Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman charged with driving her police officer boyfriend to death in January 2022, returned to court Friday for a hearing to discuss her defense team's motion to dismiss.
His attorneys, Alan Jackson and David Yannetti, argued that two of the three charges filed against Read, 44, including second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, should be dismissed following a mistrial in June.
His attorneys told Judge Beverly J. Cannone that jurors had agreed that Read was not guilty on two of the charges and that another trial would subject Read to “double jeopardy.”
Prosecutors plan to retry Read in January. Cannone heard arguments from both sides and said he will take them into account, without making a decision on Friday.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR KAREN READ?
Karen Read leaves Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Read, who was charged with killing her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, with a vehicle in January 2022, returned to court Friday for a hearing to discuss her defense team's motion to dismiss. (Photos by Patriot/Backgrid for Fox News Digital)
Karen Read leaves Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Friday, August 9, 2024. (Photos by Patriot/Backgrid for Fox News Digital)
Read arrived at Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, MassachusettsFriday afternoon, surrounded by opposing spectators: those cheering and holding signs reading “Free Karen” and “Framed,” versus those chanting “Cop killer” repeatedly as she walked up the courthouse steps.
Jackson and Yannetti argued during the June trial that the accusations against Read, alleging she killed her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, are part of an elaborate cover-up and frame-up.
After a trial that lasted several weeks and 26 hours of deliberation, the Norfolk County jury deadlocked and Cannone declared a mistrial on July 1.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that after a night of drinking on Jan. 28, 2022, a shouting match between O'Keefe and Read, a financial analyst, turned deadly when Read allegedly crashed into O'Keefe with her SUV. Prosecutors further alleged that she left her boyfriend to die in front of a Canton home during a nor'easter.
Karen Read leaves Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Read, who was charged with killing her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, with a vehicle in January 2022, returned to court Friday for a hearing to discuss her defense team's motion to dismiss. (Photos by Patriot/Backgrid for Fox News Digital)
Karen Read smiles as defense attorney David Yannetti speaks to reporters outside Norfolk Superior Court after the judge declared a mistrial after jurors could not reach a verdict following a two-month trial, Monday, July 1, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Authorities located his body in the front yard of an influential family with deep ties to Law enforcement and prosecutors.
KAREN READ MURDER CASE ENDS WITH 'DEEPLY DIVIDED' JURY DECISION
The question remains: Who killed John O'Keefe?
Read's defense claimed the family that owned the home where O'Keefe was found dead in the snow on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, framed her for his death in an elaborate cover-up.
Karen Read smiles during a news conference outside Norfolk Superior Court, Monday, July 1, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. A judge declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a settlement in the case of Read, who was accused of killing her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, by hitting him with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Karen A. Read, girlfriend of the late Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, was arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court on second-degree murder charges for his death in Dedham, MA, on June 10, 2022. The defense presented the prosecution with a photo of the couple together. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The case has sparked a debate between Boston-area residents who blame Read for O'Keefe's death and those who think she is innocent.
KAREN READ TRIAL COULD SINK OTHER HIGH-PROFILE MURDERS, EXPERT WARNS: 'IT'S HARD TO SEE HOW IT DOESN'T'
“It's become the Karen Read show,” said O'Keefe's brother, Paul O'Keefe. told CBS Boston In July, she walks through cheering crowds. She goes out in public and takes pictures and signs autographs.
A view of 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts, on February 2, 2022. Massachusetts State Police homicide detectives arrested Karen A. Read, of Mansfield, on a manslaughter warrant in the death of John O'Keefe, a Boston police officer who was found unresponsive outside a Canton residence. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“She just lives life like nothing happened,” he said at the time.
The jurors presiding over the June trial were “deeply divided” over “deeply held convictions” and ultimately decided that “a consensus is unattainable,” according to the judge's July notes.
WATCH: DASH CAM FROM THE NIGHT JOHN O'KEEFE WAS FOUND DEAD
In June 2022, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted Bentley University professor Karen Read, 42, of Mansfield, on charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision, which prosecutors say caused the death of Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, 46. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe)
“Despite our commitment to the duty entrusted to us, we found ourselves deeply divided by fundamental differences in our opinions and state of mind,” the jury wrote in its final note to the judge.
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Fox News Digital's Chris Eberhart contributed to this report.
