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    • Criminal trial judge Karen Read hears motions from the prosecution and defense
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    Criminal trial judge Karen Read hears motions from the prosecution and defense

    Online Niel Posted on

    (This story has been updated to add new information.)

    DEDHAM — A judge granted a joint motion by prosecutors and the defense team for a new trial Karen Read to be pushed back to April under notice.

    Reading is a Mansfield woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, originally from Braintree.

    Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in the case in July. She scheduled a second trial to begin on January 27, 2025. The court confirmed last month that Cannone will oversee Read’s second trial.

    Cannone, at a hearing Wednesday, heard several motions filed by both the defense and the prosecution. Special Assistant Prosecutor Hank Brennan and Assistant Prosecutors Adam Lally and Laura McLaughlin appeared for the prosecution, while Alan Jackson, David Yannetti and Elizabeth Little represented Read.

    Why they want Read’s retrial dismissed

    Earlier this month, the prosecution and defense filed a joint motion in Norfolk Superior Court asking for the trial to be postponed to April 1, 2025.

    Brennan said he has been working to get up to speed since his appointment to the case in September, but there is more to do. He said delaying the trial would make it “more effective and efficient” and would be “in the interest of justice”.

    He said additional expert witness work will take some time and he doesn’t want lawyers to be in a position to share expert reports and testimony when the trial has already begun.

    “I want to avoid at all costs unfairness to the defense and unfairness to the prosecution,” he said.

    Yannetti agreed and said it’s not fair to read if discovery isn’t complete well in advance of trial. Discovery is the formal process of exchanging information between parties about witnesses and the evidence they will present at trial.

    He said both sides had an interest in the case going to trial “quickly,” but fairness was more important.

    “She will not be able to get a fair trial at the end of January,” he said.

    Will the auto expert do more tests on Read’s Lexus SUV?

    The prosecution asked for more tests to be carried out on the telematics system of the defendant’s Lexus SUV, which it said would pinpoint the precise locations of the vehicle.

    Brennan said that Shanon Burgess, a digital forensics expert who will conduct the testing, “opinioned that significant data was likely not obtained during the chip-off procedure.”

    Jackson said the defense does not oppose additional testing, but argued that Burgess “misunderstood” information about the data chips, which gives the defense “pause.”

    “We’re concerned that some of the data could be destroyed in whatever he undertakes,” he said.

    Jackson requested that the defense expert be involved in the testing.

    A Daubert hearing, a hearing to determine whether expert testimony is admissible, is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 12.

    Defense seeks DA’s phone records; the prosecution wants phone records from Read’s father

    The defense filed several separate motions this week, including one to seek personal emails and cellphone data from Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey.

    The defense, in its motion, alleges that Morrissey used his personal email and cell phone to communicate with Stoughton District Court staff and judges while Read’s case was pending in that court.

    Brennan filed a subpoena for William Read’s phone records from the night O’Keefe died.

    In a counter-motion, Read’s lawyers call the request a “fishing expedition” and said prosecutors already have records of calls between Kareen Read and her father on her phone.

    Cannone did not hear those motions, called Rule 17 motions, on Wednesday. A hearing on the motions is scheduled for Nov. 26 at 10 a.m.

    Cannone rules on two motions after the hearing

    Cannone ruled on two of the motions a few hours after the hearing.

    She decided to allow a new prosecution expert to reassemble and test the electronics in Read’s SUV. Cannone gave Read’s defense five days to identify its own expert to be present during the trial.

    Cannone also ordered that sidebar conferences regarding evidentiary issues in the trial be transcribed and made available to attorneys and the court.

    Read charged with second degree murder

    Read was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene of injury and death after O’Keefe’s body was found outside the Canton home of a fellow Boston police officer , January 29, 2022, during a snowstorm. . Prosecutors say Read was drunk and angry when she intentionally hit him. But Read’s defense attorneys say she was charged in O’Keefe’s death.

    Read is also charged with manslaughter while driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of bodily injury and death. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey recently announced that he has appointed Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan to preside over Read’s retrial.

    (This story has been updated to add photos.)

    Online Niel
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