Opening statements in Karen Read trial begin Monday morning

Crime

Prosecutors and Read’s attorneys will each have 45 minutes to give jurors an overview of their respective cases.

When attorneys on both sides of Karen Read’s murder trial deliver opening statements Monday, they will do so in a smaller courtroom than originally planned.

Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone moved the trial to a “much smaller” courtroom on Thursday (25) after Read’s attorneys expressed concerns about the courtroom’s configuration main. Specifically, they noted that the position of the jury box meant that some jurors would not be able to see witnesses’ faces during their testimony.

At 10 a.m. Monday, Cannone said she would give the prosecution and defense 45 minutes each for opening statements. The judge also heard and ruled on several motions in preparation for the start of Read’s trial.

The 44-year-old woman is accused of hitting her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with his SUV in front of a home in Canton on January 29, 2022. Prosecutors allege Read left O’Keefe to die in a snowstorm following a night of drinking, but lawyers for the Mansfield woman say she was framed as part of a widespread cover-up among law enforcement and witnesses.

Read’s case gained notoriety after Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney embraced the defense team’s cover-up allegations and defended Read through hundreds of blog posts. Kearney later faced criminal charges after being accused of intimidating witnesses in the Read case, and prosecutors alleged that Read leaked non-public information to the controversial blogger over the course of several months.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys both agreed not to mention Kearney or his charges during Read’s trial, although Cannone said the topic would become a fair topic if Kearney was mentioned “unprompted” in testimony.

Cannone had previously ruled that Read’s lawyers could use “relevant, competent and admissible evidence” to argue that others were responsible for O’Keefe’s death, although she barred them from using the defense of guilty third party during opening statements.

The judge granted a motion by prosecutors barring lawyers from mentioning a federal investigation into law enforcement’s handling of the case. Defense attorney David Yannetti also said he would not mention in his opening statement that Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Read case, is now the subject of a internal affairs review.

Speaking to reporters outside Norfolk Superior Court on Thursday, Read’s father said the lengthy and high-profile legal proceedings had been “hell” for his family. However, he also said he believed his daughter would receive a fair trial.

“If you’ve been living on this planet for 27 or 28 months, it’s hard not to be aware of what’s happened here,” William Read said, according to the WJAR video. “My daughter is factually innocent; she is trapped.

Watch Thursday’s hearing via Boston 25 News: