Karen Read’s Lawyers Take the Fight to the Supreme Court
Jurors say she was not guilty—so why is Karen Read being retried for murder?
With jury selection now underway for Karen Read’s second trial in the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, her legal team is throwing a Hail Mary to the U.S. Supreme Court. Their argument? That retrying her on charges the jury allegedly already agreed she didn’t commit violates her Fifth Amendment rights—specifically, protection against double jeopardy.
It’s a bold move, considering the original trial ended in a mistrial, not an acquittal. But here’s where it gets messy: According to Read’s attorneys, the jury didn’t just stall out completely—they allegedly reached unanimous agreement that she was not guilty on two of the three charges, including the most serious: second-degree murder. The jury just never announced it in court.
And that technicality could change everything.
The defense says this silent consensus should still count as an acquittal. But because no formal verdict was read, Massachusetts courts have already ruled that her retrial is fair game. So now, her lawyers are asking the highest court in the land to intervene.
The case stems from Read’s 2022 arrest after O’Keefe’s body was found in the snow outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts. Prosecutors say Read, allegedly drunk, hit him with her SUV and drove away, leaving him to die in the cold. She was initially charged with manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, and DUI. Later, the charge was bumped up to second-degree murder. Read has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and her defense team argues she’s a scapegoat—framed by others connected to the case.
During her first trial in 2024, jurors started deliberating on June 25. For nearly a week, they sent notes to the judge saying they were deadlocked. On July 1, with no end in sight, Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial. No verdict was read. No charges were resolved. Or so it seemed.
That’s when the jurors started talking.
The next day, Juror A reached out to Read’s attorney, Alan Jackson, and said the panel had unanimously agreed she wasn’t guilty of the murder charge. Then came Jurors B, C, and D, sharing similar statements—one even leaving a voicemail for prosecutors saying, “It was not guilty on second degree.” Texts from Juror B added, “No one thought she hit him on purpose or even knew that she had hit him.”
So why does this matter? Because if true, it means a jury had decided she wasn’t guilty of murder—and according to the Constitution, once you’ve been acquitted, the government doesn’t get a second swing. But here, since no one ever said it out loud in court, the legal system treats it like it never happened.
The defense argues that’s a dangerous technicality. They say the judge should’ve asked the jury whether they had reached a verdict on any specific counts before sending them home. Without that, the system is effectively ignoring what the jury allegedly decided behind closed doors.
If the Supreme Court agrees with Read’s team, the second-degree murder and leaving-the-scene charges could be dropped. She’d still face manslaughter, but that’s a whole different ballgame compared to a potential life sentence.
In the meantime, jury selection for her second trial has begun, and, no surprise, dozens of potential jurors already have opinions about the case. Karen Read’s name has become a lightning rod in Boston—part true crime obsession, part courtroom soap opera, and part public debate over police, power, and justice.
But behind the noise is a very real constitutional question: If a jury says you’re not guilty, but doesn’t say it in the “right” way, can the state still come after you again?
We’re about to find out.
#KarenRead #JohnOKeefe #TrueCrime #SupremeCourtAppeal
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