Karen Read is back in court Friday for her motion to dismiss

The sensational Karen Read murder case has continued to dominate headlines since its mistrial last month, with some reports suggesting that jurors may have reached a closer consensus than initially believed.

As Read returns to court for a hearing Friday afternoon, the saga continues.

The 44-year-old Mansfield woman is accused of drunkenly and intentionally backing her SUV into her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, in January 2022. Read’s attorneys have alleged a massive cover-up, leveling accusations of biased investigators and shoddy police work.

Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial on July 1 after the jury said it was “deeply divided” on the evidence in the case.

The defense is now seeking to dismiss two of the three counts, saying jurors agreed Read was “not guilty” of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. In fact, Read’s attorneys said they heard from five jurors that the jury was deadlocked only on the charge of involuntary manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

Attorneys for both sides will argue the motion to dismiss at 2 p.m. Friday in Norfolk Superior Court.

What Karen Read’s Lawyers Said

In a series of court documents, Read’s attorneys described information they received from five potential jurors.

While the jury reported a “deep split” after days of deliberation, several jurors reportedly told the defense they were deadlocked only on the OUI manslaughter charge and its lesser included offenses of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide.

In a sworn statement filed Monday, defense attorney David Yannetti said one of the jurors — identified in court documents as “Juror B” — “believes that every member of the jury, if asked, will confirm that the jury returned not guilty verdicts” on two of the charges. According to Yannetti, Juror B further said, “No one thought she [Read] “She didn’t hit him on purpose or even know she hit him.”

Another juror, identified as “Juror D,” reportedly told defense attorney Alan Jackson that he was “uncomfortable” with how the trial ended and felt the final day of deliberations was a “whirlwind.”

“Juror D stated that the jury did discuss telling the judge that they had unanimously agreed on the NOT GUILTY verdicts on Counts 1 and 3, but they were unsure whether they were allowed to say so,” Jackson wrote in a July affidavit.

Read’s lawyers argue that because the jury reached a unanimous finding on two of the counts, a new trial of Read on those counts would violate double jeopardy laws. A retrial is scheduled to begin on January 27, 2025.

What the prosecutors said

In its initial response to Read’s attorneys’ motion, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said the motion to dismiss was “based on hearsay, conjecture and a legally improper reliance on the content of the jury’s deliberations.”

Prosecutors said the jury’s notes to Cannone indicated an impasse on all charges, adding: “The defendant’s unsubstantiated but sensational post-trial claim that the ‘jury reached a unanimous decision to acquit’ has no merit or legal basis.”

Yet in a subsequent filing last week, the prosecutor’s office said it had received several voicemails and emails from alleged jurors who indicated there was more to the story.

According to the court document, Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally received an unsolicited voicemail on July 21 from a person who identified himself as a juror and said, “What has recently been revealed that the jury is unanimous on counts 1 and 3 is true.”

In a second voicemail on July 26, the presumptive juror claimed that at the time of the “final vote,” the jury was “guilty 9-3 on the involuntary manslaughter charges … lower-level involuntary manslaughter charges,” according to the filing.

Prosecutors did not respond to voicemails and said they were “ethically prohibited from engaging in discussions about the jury’s deliberative process,” according to the court document.

Read’s supporters continued to vocally advocate for her cause leading up to Friday’s hearing. Last Sunday, the “Free Karen Read” movement held protests in 32 locations, NBC10 Boston reported. Read herself was spotted mingling with supporters in Dighton, where her parents live.