What to Know
- Karen Read is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene
- She is accused of striking John O'Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die alone in the snow outside of a house party in Canton, Massachusetts
- Her defense team has said she is the victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O'Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party
- Closing arguments were made Friday morning, and the jury began deliberating in the afternoon
For legal analysis, watch "Canton Confidential" below.
The jury is now deliberating the charges against Karen Read after hearing closing arguments Friday morning and receiving detailed instructions on how they'll deliberate.
Court got underway around 8:45 a.m., and after a series of sidebars, closing arguments began around 9:45 with defense attorney Alan Jackson. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan was up for the commonwealth around 11:15 a.m.
Each side had 75 minutes to make their final case. After lunch, Judge Beverly Cannone gave jury instructions and sent the jurors off to begin their deliberations. She tapped the juror in seat No. 1 as the foreperson.
The jury was sent home just before 4:30 p.m., without reaching a verdict after having the case for about two hours.
Read is accused of hitting John O'Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die alone in the snow outside of a house party at 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts. Her defense team has said she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O'Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.
A mistrial was declared last year after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Here's how the day played out in court:
