MISTRIAL MA - Professor Karen Read, 43, charged with murdering police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe by hitting him with car, Canton, 14 Apr 2023 #17

[HarmonyE.]

All she needed to do was clarify if there were any charges that the jury agreed upon and we wouldn't be in such a mess. That would've taken 3 minutes. Just 3 extra minutes in a trial that lasted a a month and involved 70+ witnesses, and we would've seen KR acquitted on 2 out of 3 charges.

15 seconds to just ask the question. A few minutes to sort it out and ask them to sign the sheets on the counts they all found her Not Guilty.

It's so appalling. What was she thinking?

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

15 seconds to just ask the question. A few minutes to sort it out and ask them to sign the sheets on the counts they all found her Not Guilty.

It's so appalling. What was she thinking?

Yes HarmonyE and fluffypaste! Exactly!

Unless perhaps, and ok, call me cynical…. but IMO I wonder if the judge didn’t do so for other reasons, deliberate or otherwise?

And between that and the statement from the DA in advance of the trial. SMH.

Astonishing and simply unprecedented. And IMO perhaps less than honorable conduct. MOO

 

[TIGER0822]

Also, Morrissey claimed that in the 12 years he has been DA he has never issued this type of public statement before. He made it seem like this unusualness was a result of the case itself and the egregiousness of the defense’s allegations and the public’s response.

However, perhaps if he had focused more on advocating for justice and JOK and not defending his friends or poorly put together case maybe he would have remembered that the real reason he probably never issued such a statement during course of his career is because it is discouraged by the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct.

It is one thing to empathize with those mentioned in his video or to feel sensitive about the topic but it is entirely another to disrespect and misuse the status, obligations and privilege that comes with being a DA and a representative of the court of law. By publicizing that video prioritized his opinions and emotions over obtaining justice for the victims, JOK and his family, and KR’s, or the defendant’s right to a fair trial. He is not judge, jury and executioner so instead of belittling the defense and providing KR with his guilty verdict he should let the court and trial carry on and not be contributor to a tainted jury tool.

Also how does Morrissey know what MP does and does not have time for? They don’t live together and unless they share all their Google Calendars or also follow one another on the Life360 app I don’t think that’s possible.

People will make time for the things that matter to them, including winning a case, saving face, investigating the correlation between love triangles and Aruba, completing paperwork drunk and so on and so on, so sometimes with people you never really know

JMO based on some of the readings below

Has Norfolk County District Attorney Michael P. Morrissey Committed Ethical Violations in His Handling of the Karen Read Case?

On Friday afternoon, August 25, 2023, Attorney Michael P. Morrissey, the elected District Attorney of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, took a step that he stated was unprecedented; he issued a public…

elderlaw.info

https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/rules-of-professional-conduct-rule-38-special-responsibilities-of-a-prosecutor

Wow! If I am ever party to a case which is being publicly prosecuted, I too want a DA who will go all out for me.

 

[ShadyLady]

15 seconds to just ask the question. A few minutes to sort it out and ask them to sign the sheets on the counts they all found her Not Guilty.

It's so appalling. What was she thinking?

That she did not get the outcome she wanted?
With fresh eyes, I now clearly see her bias.

 

[Seattle1]

I keep going back to the jury note:
"The deep division is not due to a lack of effort or diligence but rather a sincere adherence to our individual principles and moral convictions. To continue to deliberate would be futile and only serve to force us to compromise these deeply-held beliefs.”

^^rsbm

This just came to my attention-- MA Jury Instructions cite "moral certainty." I wonder if the foreperson borrowed from the juror instructions:

In Massachusetts criminal trials, judges must instruct juries on the definition of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which includes the term "moral certainty".

The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) mandated a new instruction in 2015 that defines "moral certainty" as "the highest degree of certainty possible in matters relating to human affairs" and "based solely on the evidence that has been put before you in this case".

The instruction is intended to replace the Webster charge, which originated in 1850 and has been criticized for being outdated and unclear. The new instruction states that a charge is proved beyond a reasonable doubt if, after considering all the evidence, the jury has an "abiding conviction, to a moral certainty, that the charge is true".

https://www.mass.gov/doc/2180-reasonable-doubt/download#:~:text=A%20charge%20is%20proved%20beyond,that%20the%20charge%20is%20true.

 

[fluffypaste]

If we've heard from 4 jurors, is it safe to assume that they're the same 4 who wanted full acquittal?

 

[iamshadow21]

If we've heard from 4 jurors, is it safe to assume that they're the same 4 who wanted full acquittal?

I think that's a very big assumption to make based on the available information.

MOO

 

[Snoop Sister]

If we've heard from 4 jurors, is it safe to assume that they're the same 4 who wanted full acquittal?

It is a big assumption but does have credibility for me. Jmo

 

[Snoop Sister]

I am just watching the trial now. What ever happened to judges asserting that the question was asked and answered, move on?

 

[nightowl1975]

15 seconds to just ask the question. A few minutes to sort it out and ask them to sign the sheets on the counts they all found her Not Guilty.

It's so appalling. What was she thinking?

IMO, she was thinking she didn’t want NG on the charges. If she didn’t ask, KR could be tried again for the same charges. Obviously there was no way that all jurors agreed to find her guilty of only some of the charges. How do I know this? Let’s say they ALL agreed she was guilty of manslaughter. Then by default, that’s saying she’s not guilty of the murder charge. So the judge knew if the jury was in agreement on any of the charges, but hung on any of the other charges, it would be agreement on not guilty for some of the charges. IMO, the judge didn’t want not guilty on anything unless it was guilty of murder and not guilty of manslaughter (by default, bc in this scenario she would be guilty of murder). Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to and all….

 

[IDK]

Just leaving this here since some are concerned John O’Keefe wasn’t bruised enough to have been hit by a car:

• “Delayed bruising: In the context of car accidents, delayed bruising can occur when the impact damages blood vessels, leading to the gradual leakage of blood. This type of bruising may not become visible until hours or even days after the collision.”

Delayed Injury Symptoms To Look For After a Car Wreck - Wells Call Injury Lawyers

Discover the hidden dangers of delayed injury symptoms following a car wreck. Learn what signs to watch for and protect your health. Don't wait, read now!

www.wccbc.com

 

[TIGER0822]

Just leaving this here since some are concerned John O’Keefe wasn’t bruised enough to have been hit by a car:

• “Delayed bruising: In the context of car accidents, delayed bruising can occur when the impact damages blood vessels, leading to the gradual leakage of blood. This type of bruising may not become visible until hours or even days after the collision.”

Delayed Injury Symptoms To Look For After a Car Wreck - Wells Call Injury Lawyers

Discover the hidden dangers of delayed injury symptoms following a car wreck. Learn what signs to watch for and protect your health. Don't wait, read now!

www.wccbc.com

Any significant delayed bruising would have been documented on the ME report.

 

[IDK]

Another resource:

“Once an injury has been sustained which has disrupted blood vessels in or under the skin, a bruise may take minutes to days to appear. This is due to continued extravasation at the site of the injury and tracking of the blood through tissue planes.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/bruise#:~:text=Once%20an%20injury%20has%20been,the%20blood%20through%20tissue%20planes.

 

[TIGER0822]

What??!!! This guy made this statement before the trial?
He used his role as a DA as if he's a judge, stating witnesses are innocent.
What a mickey mouse club!
MOO

He made this statement, which was more like a statement from a private Defense Attorney than a judge.

 

[IDK]

Any significant delayed bruising would have been documented on the ME report.

Possibly, if he had been alive long enough for the bruising to develop and had not been left to die in below freezing temperatures…. IMO

 

[keek]

He made this statement, which was more like a statement from a private Defense Attorney than a judge.

In trouble for this. He is in the mix with the group, moronnnnnnnnn. PUBLIC.

 

[iamshadow21]

If he had been alive long enough for the bruising to develop and not subjected to temperatures below freezing… IMO

Bruising invisible to the eye can be documented postmortem with infrared photography.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ca.22078

This isn't a brand new technique, I saw it on CSI twenty years ago. They certainly would have had this available to them for JOK's autopsy.

MOO

 

[IDK]

Bruising invisible to the eye can be documented postmortem with infrared photography.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ca.22078

This isn't a brand new technique, I saw it on CSI twenty years ago. They certainly would have had this available to them for JOK's autopsy.

MOO

Any documentation that it was used in this case? I’ve read some opinions that the post mortem was substandard….

 

[iamshadow21]

Any documentation that it was used in this case? I’ve read some opinions that the post mortem was substandard….

You'd have to ask someone who followed this trial more closely than I did whether it was mentioned at trial in witness testimony, or in documentation.

I'm just saying it's a known, used technique by medical examiners to show bruising that is not visible to the naked eye.

MOO

 

[IDK]

You'd have to ask someone who followed this trial more closely than I did whether it was mentioned at trial in witness testimony, or in documentation.

I'm just saying it's a known, used technique by medical examiners to show bruising that is not visible to the naked eye.

MOO

OK, that’s kind of what I was hoping— that someone here might know.