Jury deliberations continue – NBC Boston

The eyes of the entire country turn to Massachusetts as jurors decide the fate of Karen Read.

The week-long murder trial is now drawing to a close, with a verdict possible as early as Wednesday.

Watch Karen Read’s trial live on nbcboston.com, NECN, NBC Boston streaming platforms (including Roku, Peacock and Samsung TV) and the NBC10 Boston YouTube page. Every night of the trial at 7 p.m., check back for analysis and more.

Email your questions to canton.confidential@nbcuni.com.

Shortly after deliberations resumed Wednesday morning, jurors sent a question to Judge Beverly Cannone. But it wasn’t specifically about the trial. The jury instead asked if it could conclude deliberations around 4 p.m. due to one juror having a “long-standing scheduling conflict.” The judge had no problem granting this request.

Around 10 a.m., the court reconvened without the jury present, and defense attorney Alan Jackson pleaded his case to Cannone, saying the verdict bulletin was improper. He disputed the fact that there was no box on the ballot to check “not guilty”.

Cannone explained that if jurors do not check the guilty block, the verdict is not guilty.

“This is not the way it should be, despite our strong objection. They need to see that there is a not-guilty option,” Jackson said.

But Cannone disagreed and said she thought the verdict was appropriate. As she explained this to Jackson, she apparently noticed a reaction from Read that she did not like.

“Excuse me. Is that funny, Mrs. Read?” » Canon said. “Alright, we’re done.”

On the courtroom video feed, Read’s face was obscured by Jackson, but his head could be seen shaking from side to side in response to Cannone’s question.

As the jury deliberated charges in the Karen Read murder trial Wednesday, the court came back into session for defense attorney Alan Jackson to argue that the verdicts handed to the jury were not fair readings. The three-minute argument was testy and ended with judge Beverly Cannone saying, “Is this funny, Ms. Read? All right, we’re done.”

As they continue to deliberate, you can bet the powerful words from both the defense and prosecution spoken during Tuesday’s closing arguments stick with jurors.

“Ladies and gentlemen, there has been a cover-up in this case, plain and simple,” defense attorney Alan Jackson said during closing arguments.

“There is no conspiracy. There is no cover-up. There is no proof of any of this beyond speculation, rant, speculation and conjecture,” said prosecutor Adam Lally.

Read is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, after they spent a night drinking at two separate bars in Canton, Massachusetts, with friends and acquaintances. She allegedly backed up her SUV as she dropped him off at 34 Fairview Road late that night, leaving him to die in a snowbank outside the home.

Prosecutor Adam Lally presents the Commonwealth’s closing argument in the murder trial of Karen Read.

Read is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

“I hit him. I hit him. I hit him. I hit him. Those are the defendant’s words, four times,” Lally said.

“You have been lied to in this courtroom, and your job is to make sure you never look away,” Jackson argued.

Defense attorney Alan Jackson makes closing arguments at the Karen Read trial Tuesday morning. The defense argued that Read, accused of killing her boyfriend John O’Keefe by hitting him with her SUV, had been charged with a cover-up by law enforcement.

The prosecution understands that some of the witnesses it has called are questionable, but it maintains that the evidence in this case should not be questioned.

The defense, meanwhile, wonders how the evidence can be trusted if the morality of those responsible for collecting it is questionable.

Outside the courthouse there have been dozens of people since this trial began, but on Tuesday, as the case went before the jury, there were hundreds.

The crowd largely supported the accused Read, but there were some clashes with these supporters.

As we near the end of this murder trial, public interest has only grown, with about 350 people supporting Read in court Tuesday, watching the closing arguments on their cell phones and laptops.

The Karen Read trial attracted enormous attention, drawing a crowd of people to Norfolk Superior Court for closing arguments. Here’s what the hundreds of his pink-clad supporters gathered there on Tuesday.

Two legal analysts NBC10 Boston spoke with said they believe the jury can’t ignore the intensity of the microscope placed on this case. They believe jurors will want to take their time and deliberate carefully, because they know any verdict will be dissected by the public.

People outside the courtroom say every day that they have confidence in the jury’s decision.

“I don’t think it will take long and Karen will finally be released,” one supporter said.

“A not guilty verdict comes back. I mean, the evidence has shown it, anyone who has followed this case from the beginning has seen the truth,” another supporter said.

Both legal analysts expect a relatively quick verdict.

We take a look at the closing arguments presented by the prosecution and defense in the Karen Read trial, which is now in the hands of the jury.