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

[ch_13]

The defense is asking Judge Beverly Cannone to recuse herself.

Lawyers for Mansfield woman charged in cop boyfriend's death want judge to recuse herself

MANSFIELD — Lawyers for Karen Read, the local woman accused of killing her Boston police boyfriend by hitting him with her SUV and driving off in a snowstorm, are asking

www.thesunchronicle.com

I've read the motion, although I can't link to it as it's on the website of an unapproved blog.

There are four defense contentions:

1. A member of the family that Read claims killed O'Keefe bragged that his family has personal ties to the judge and he referred to her as "Auntie Bev." He also said that he would kill a blogger who has been reporting on the case and bury them in the judge's backyard. The family member has a property on Cape Cod not far from the judge's summer house.
2. The judge has been extremely late on ruling on several defense motions. One example is the request for O'Keefe's clothing in order to test it for dog DNA. The motion has been in front of the judge for 72 days so far with no ruling yet.
3. On the other hand, when the prosecution filed a motion to cancel an evidentiary hearing three days before it was supposed to occur, the court held an emergency hearing and granted the cancellation immediately, using a "legally incorrect theory". The judge also forced the defense to argue another motion without any notice or preparation time.
4. Despite the fact that she is no longer assigned to the case as part of the regular judge's rotation, she still wants to hear the upcoming motion on the gag order instead of the judge that should be assigned to it.

 

[LvsAMystry]

The defense is asking Judge Beverly Cannone to recuse herself.

Lawyers for Mansfield woman charged in cop boyfriend's death want judge to recuse herself

MANSFIELD — Lawyers for Karen Read, the local woman accused of killing her Boston police boyfriend by hitting him with her SUV and driving off in a snowstorm, are asking

www.thesunchronicle.com

I've read the motion, although I can't link to it as it's on the website of an unapproved blog.

There are four defense contentions:

1. A member of the family that Read claims killed O'Keefe bragged that his family has personal ties to the judge and he referred to her as "Auntie Bev." He also said that he would kill a blogger who has been reporting on the case and bury them in the judge's backyard. The family member has a property on Cape Cod not far from the judge's summer house.
2. The judge has been extremely late on ruling on several defense motions. One example is the request for O'Keefe's clothing in order to test it for dog DNA. The motion has been in front of the judge for 72 days so far with no ruling yet.
3. On the other hand, when the prosecution filed a motion to cancel an evidentiary hearing three days before it was supposed to occur, the court held an emergency hearing and granted the cancellation immediately, using a "legally incorrect theory". The judge also forced the defense to argue another motion without any notice or preparation time.
4. Despite the fact that she is no longer assigned to the case as part of the regular judge's rotation, she still wants to hear the upcoming motion on the gag order instead of the judge that should be assigned to it.

Despite the sensationalism, I’m not 100% sold on theories either way. I do believe in due process however and the blatant lack of due process in this matter and seeming one-sided favoritism does lend one to believe there is at least some merit to the defense theories. I grew up in the town at the center of this and while I remain on the fence until presentation of everything from both sides, the characterization of ties between parties is accurate.

 

[ch_13]

I happened to catch a segment on the Today Show about this case. They were teasing a future Dateline episode.

The segment featured a clip of an interview with KR where she said that she watched John enter the residence. I don't think we've heard that before. Other than that, there wasn't anything new.

They did show Alan Jackson claiming that his client was innocent and the victim of a coverup. I wonder if the involvement of Dateline was what prompted the DA to request a gag order on the defense attorneys.

 

[ch_13]

I happened to catch a segment on the Today Show about this case. They were teasing a future Dateline episode.

The segment featured a clip of an interview with KR where she said that she watched John enter the residence. I don't think we've heard that before. Other than that, there wasn't anything new.

They did show Alan Jackson claiming that his client was innocent and the victim of a coverup. I wonder if the involvement of Dateline was what prompted the DA to request a gag order on the defense attorneys.

Here's the report from Today:

https://www.today.com/video/new-questions-emerge-surrounding-taillight-murder-189130309517

 

[HarmonyE.]

Here's the report from Today:

https://www.today.com/video/new-questions-emerge-surrounding-taillight-murder-189130309517

Thanks. I was looking for this.

I don't know what to make of this story, but the injuries depicted in the autopsy photos don't make any sense. The deep arm lacerations and the very large wound on the back of his head don't seem to line up with the prosecution theory.

<modsnip: no link to an approved source>

 

[Aport]

My guess would be that Reed did injure him severely with her car then maybe the dog attacked him as he was laying there agonizing. It's possible that someone discovered this and googled how long it takes someone to freeze to death in a drunken sort of thought process "He's probably already dead so it won't hurt for us to sober up a bit before we call it in" or similar. That would explain a lot.

He’s probably already dead so lets sober up? That’s kind of a ludacris thought evilwise. It was a blizzard out that night. I highly doubt the family dog was lingering around the front yard at 2 am.

 

[HarmonyE.]

Photos of interior and exterior of the house for anyone interested. The house was sold last April. Pretty good price for a house of this size in Canton.

34 Fairview Rd, Canton, MA 02021 | Zillow

34 Fairview Rd, Canton MA, is a Single Family home that contains 2366 sq ft and was built in 1974.It contains 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.This home last sold for $905,000 in April 2023. The Zestimate for this Single Family is $1,001,800, which has decreased by $14,374 in the last 30 days.The...

www.zillow.com

 

[ch_13]

<modsnip - quoted post was from an unapproved source>

If I'm reading the proposed order correctly, it would only apply to the prosecution and defense lawyers and to law enforcement. I've circled the relevant section in red. Of course, the judge can add other parties to the order if she wishes. We'll see tomorrow.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Woman charged in Boston police officer’s death set to return to court as case moves closer to trial

A Mansfield woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend will be back in Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday afternoon.

www.boston25news.com

 

[Gardenista]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=825114622207752

 

[JerseyGirl]

Media circus around Karen Read's trial spreads into court hearing

Karen Read, the woman charged with second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, was back in court for a new hearing Tuesday, where the case’s rising media attention became a part of the legal arguments. Read is accused of killing O’Keefe on Jan. 29...

www.nbcboston.com

Prosecutors have filed a motion asking her and her attorneys to stop speaking to the media. Meanwhile, an air date for the upcoming "Dateline" episode has not been announced.

 

[ch_13]

Weird. Earlier today, the Boston Globe had an article up about the prosecution sending John O'Keefe's clothing to get tested for animal DNA. But if you click on the same link now, there's a different article up that's about today's hearing.

Judge in Karen Read case refuses to step down, hears arguments on gag order - The Boston Globe

The judge said in court Tuesday that Karen Read’s motion for her recusal “is not credible” and that “all four points raised in the defendant’s motion are without merit.”

www.bostonglobe.com

Here's an excerpt from the original article taken from an archive link: https://archive.li/DZb4M

Norfolk county prosecutors are attacking a key defense claim in the Karen Read murder prosecution by asking a California veterinary laboratory to determine whether “non-human DNA” exists on the clothing worn by the victim, Boston Police Officer John J. O’Keefe.

In papers filed in Norfolk Superior Court, where Read has pleaded not guilty to second degree murder, prosecutors said they have two samples of an unknown matter discovered on the right arm of a long-sleeve T-shirt O’Keefe was wearing when Read allegedly hit him with her SUV and left him to freeze to death during a blizzard in January 2022.

It's take an awfully long time for them to do these DNA tests, but hopefully we'll soon get an answer one way or the other.

 

[CrimeSlog]

I definitely intend to watch this trial b/c I will need to hear or see exactly how she could have hit him. I've seen a video of her backing up and there was absolutely nobody behind her. From that video, at most, she hit a parked car at an extremely slow, careful rate while backing up.

 

[ch_13]

I definitely intend to watch this trial b/c I will need to hear or see exactly how she could have hit him. I've seen a video of her backing up and there was absolutely nobody behind her. From that video, at most, she hit a parked car at an extremely slow, careful rate while backing up.

Just to be clear, the video of Karen backing up was from the next morning. The defense claims that it shows that her tail light was not broken because she hit her boyfriend, but rather at 5 AM when she went looking for him.

 

[CrimeSlog]

Just to be clear, the video of Karen backing up was from the next morning. The defense claims that it shows that her tail light was not broken because she hit her boyfriend, but rather at 5 AM when she went looking for him.

ahhhhh... thank you for clarifying the timing of this video, that's what I had seen a clip of. So that makes me think that possibly she drove EXTRA carefully b/c at that point she may have known she was being recorded.

This case is bizarre to me b/c nothing about the "friends" google searches make sense if they had nothing to do with it. I just can't wait to see the evidence presented at trial.

 

[RickshawFan]

Defense Lawyers Claim ‘Bombshell' New Evidence in BPD Officer's Death in Canton

Defense attorneys representing a Massachusetts woman charged in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, say they have uncovered new evidence suggesting she is innocent and that others were involved in the death. The attorneys have previously argued there was a large-scale...

www.nbcboston.com

It was cold and snowy. Looking up how long it takes to freeze to death implicates you in a murder?

There are a dozen innocent reasons why you’d want to look that up. Planning on freezing someone else to death would be the least likely.

 

[Yemelyan]

ahhhhh... thank you for clarifying the timing of this video, that's what I had seen a clip of. So that makes me think that possibly she drove EXTRA carefully b/c at that point she may have known she was being recorded.

This case is bizarre to me b/c nothing about the "friends" google searches make sense if they had nothing to do with it. I just can't wait to see the evidence presented at trial.

From what I'm reading, the prosecutor's argument is that the "friend" googled some of those things at Read's request, either while they were still looking for him or after the body was found. They say that their forensic rendering of the friend's cell phone showed those particular searches occurring at later times than the defense alleges they did. Two different analyses of the cell phone = two different timelines for those searches. Right now we don't know if the defense's analysis of the cell phone was more accurate, or the prosecution's was.

 

[RickshawFan]

I'm curious about a coat as well. The police report states that when they found the body he was wearing jeans, a short sleeved shirt and a long sleeved shirt. So it would seem like he wasn't wearing a coat which seems odd for January in Massachusetts. I wonder if any video, pictures, etc. from the evening ever show him wearing a coat

Presumably, he only has to go from the car into the house, though? Why would you need a coat? In fact, you might exactly not want to take your coat inside in case you forgot it. New England old-timers work in short sleeves when it’s -20. These cops presumably have a lotta muscle; that’s extra heat.

All these guys were drunk apparently, and not registering realities. Trying to come up with a logical sequence and a rational thinking process for any of this is a fool’s errand IMO, and that’s why both prosecution and defense scenarios sound far-fetched; the theories are based on people who are sober, as far as I can tell. IMO the events in reality likely all evolved in nonsensical fashion.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Judge refuses to step away from Karen Read trial

The Mansfield woman accused of hitting and killing a Boston police officer with her car during a blizzard last year returned to court Tuesday.

www.wpri.com

Read is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 15.

 

[LvsAMystry]

This case is bizarre to me b/c nothing about the "friends" google searches make sense if they had nothing to do with it.

It was cold and snowy. Looking up how long it takes to freeze to death implicates you in a murder?

There are a dozen innocent reasons why you’d want to look that up. Planning on freezing someone else to death would be the least likely.

I’m curious what alternative reasons do you think someone would google or need to know in the middle of the night how long it takes for someone to freeze to death? I mean, I guess there could be a reason or two, but combined with the actual circumstances at hand it’s at the very least suspect. Occam‘s Razor may apply.