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Karen Read murder trial judge hears requests from prosecution and defense

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Karen Read murder trial judge hears requests from prosecution and defense

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

DEDHAM – The judge received a joint request from prosecutors and the defense team for the retrial of the defendants Karen Read It will be postponed to April upon recommendation.

To read A Mansfield woman accused of killing a Boston police officer her boyfriend, Braintree native John O’Keefe.

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

Cannone heard numerous motions submitted by both the defense and prosecution at the hearing Wednesday. The prosecution included Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan and Assistant District Attorneys Adam Lally and Laura McLaughlin, while Read was represented by Alan Jackson, David Yannetti and Elizabeth Little.

Why do they want Karen Read’s retrial to be postponed?

The prosecution and defense filed a joint motion in Norfolk Superior Court earlier this month requesting that the trial be postponed until April 1, 2025.

Brennan said he has been working to get up to speed since being assigned to the case in September, but there is still work to be done. He said postponing the hearing would make it “more efficient and effective” and would be “in the interests of justice.”

He said additional work by expert witnesses would take some time and that he did not want lawyers to be in a position to share reports and expert testimony while the trial had already begun.

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

Yannetti agreed, saying it wasn’t fair to Read if discovery wasn’t completed long before the hearing. Discovery is the formal process of exchanging information between parties about witnesses and the evidence they will present at trial.

He said it was in the interest of both parties to have the case tried “expeditiously” but that justice was more important.

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

Will a car expert do more testing on Karen Read’s Lexus SUV?

The prosecution is requesting further tests on the telematics system of the defendant’s Lexus SUV, which it says will determine the vehicle’s precise locations.

The digital forensic expert who will perform the testing, Shanon Burgess, “felt that important data was likely not obtained during the chip-off procedure,” Brennan said.

Jackson said the defense did not object to additional testing, but argued that the information about Burgess’s data chips was “fundamentally misunderstood” and that gave the defense “pause.”

“We are concerned that no matter what he does, some data may be destroyed,” he said.

Jackson requested that the defense’s expert witness be included in the testing.

The Daubert hearing, or the hearing to decide whether expert testimony is admissible, will be held on December 12 at 9 a.m.

The defense requests the prosecutor’s phone records; Prosecutor’s Office requests phone records from Read’s father

The defense this week filed several separate requests from Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey, including one seeking personal emails and cell phone data.

The defense argues in its motion that Morrissey may have used his personal email and cell phone to contact Stoughton District Court staff and judges while Read’s case was previously pending in court.

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

In a response motion, Read’s attorneys called the request a “fishing expedition” and said prosecutors already had recordings of telephone conversations between Kareen Read and her father.

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

Karen Read charged with second-degree murder

Read was charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and personal injury and leaving the scene of death while operating while intoxicated after O’Keefe’s body was found outside the Canton home of a fellow Boston police officer on Jan. 29, 2022. blizzard Prosecutors say Read was drunk and angry when he deliberately hit himself. But Read’s defense attorneys say Read is charged with O’Keefe’s death.

Read is also charged with involuntary manslaughter while driving drunk and leaving the scene of personal injury and death. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey recently announced that he had appointed Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan to lead Read’s retrial.

(This story has been updated to add photos.)

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