Karen Read argues that being charged with murder for her boyfriend's death violates the principle of double jeopardy.
John O'Keefe's death: Defense argues double jeopardy on 2 of 3 charges after mistrial
The Massachusetts woman is seeking to have some charges dropped against her after her murder trial for her police officer boyfriend ended in a mistrial, with new allegations of a corrupt cover-up involving his colleagues emerging.
John O'Keefe, a 46-year-old Boston police officer, was found dead on another Boston police officer's front lawn in Canton on the morning after a nor'easter in January 2022. Karen Read, a 44-year-old former finance professional, was dating him.
Despite a mistrial in her criminal case, prosecutors intend to retry her early next year.
During a heated argument while intoxicated, she allegedly drove her SUV over him, causing injury, before fleeing the scene and leaving him to freeze to death.
On Wednesday, she presented her case before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, arguing that two of the three charges from her initial trial should be dismissed under the constitutional prohibition of double jeopardy, as the jury had only reached a deadlock on the third.
The appeal being made today centers on the protection of double jeopardy, which prevents defendants, including Ms. Read, from being reprosecuted for the same offenses that a prior jury dismissed. According to The Associated Press, Martin Weinberg, Read's attorney, argued this point before a panel of judges on the state's highest court.
Multiple jurors came forward after the mistrial to reveal that they had deadlocked on the manslaughter charge but believed Read was not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident.
However, they had not told the judge.
The panel did not announce a decision on the matter on Wednesday.
On a snowy night, Read dropped off O'Keefe at Boston Police Officer Brian Albert's house and then went out with friends for the night.
She and her friends searched for him early the next morning and found his body in the snow on Albert's lawn.
O'Keefe was attacked by law enforcement officers who framed him for the murder, according to Read. Despite this, no charges have been filed against any of the officers involved.
The cause of O'Keefe's death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia by the medical examiner.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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