Karen Read appeared in court Wednesday as attorneys on both sides of the aisle asked that her retrial for the alleged murder of her policeman boyfriend be postponed by April – prosecutors saying they plan to “substantially” reduce the number of witnesses in this spill.

“It will allow me as I evaluate this case, which I am still doing, to substantially reduce the witness list,” special prosecutor Hank Brennan — whose past clients include Boston mobster Whitey Bulger — told the court during his adjournment. arguments, the Boston Globe reported.

Read’s first trial in the 2022 death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe lasted two grueling months, with 74 witnesses called for extensive rounds of cross-examination. Brennan, who was assigned to the case in September, said more time would also allow him to better prepare to keep the process fast and efficient.

“I’m new to the case. I’m not looking for a personal accommodation, but I think the idea of ​​a continuance motion, a joint plea, is in the best interests of justice, but I think — inevitably — I really think it’s going to have a more efficient solution. and an efficient process,” he said, according to WCVB.

Read’s first trial ended in a deadlocked jury and mistrial in July, with the new trial currently scheduled for January. Her attorney agreed to prosecutors’ motion for adjournment, explaining that they would also like until April to evaluate new evidence analysis.

Read appeared in court Wednesday in her usual style, wearing a check knit dress from Theory worth about $400, as she stood at attention as attorneys made their case.

Judge Beverly Cannone did not rule on the adjournment motions, but scheduled two new hearings for Nov. 26 and Dec. 12.

The next hearing in November will discuss prosecution requests for the phone records – while the December hearing will address the prospect of another appearance by a dog bite expert who previously testified that O’Keefe appeared to have been mauled by a dog before of his death.

That story was central to the defense’s explanation of the events that led to O’Keefe’s death on January 29, 2022. They argued that the Boston police officer was not killed by Read — but rather beaten to death by his police friends during some. sort of drunken brawl then left in the snow with Read being the scapegoat as the killer.

Judge Cannon also ruled in favor of allowing a new prosecution expert to test the data from Karen Read’s SUV – which the state claimed was used to run O’Keefe down, leaving him to die in -a snowbank – while allowing the defense five days to find its own expert to evaluate the evidence.

Read also finds hope that he could avoid a second murder trial altogether as the Massachusetts Supreme Court continues to rule on a request to drop the murder and leaving the scene of an accident charges.

Her attorneys said numerous jurors came forward to say they unanimously acquitted her of those charges and could not reach a decision on manslaughter — but they misunderstood the court’s procedure and a mistrial was called of the trial before he could explain his position.

Judge Cannone previously denied that motion.