DEDHAM — A murder case against a Mansfield woman hasn’t even reached trial yet but lawyers on both sides battled Wednesday over evidence and about who killed her Boston police officer boyfriend.
Karen Read, 43, entered Dedham Superior Court for a packed pretrial hearing to cheers from supporters outside yelling “go Karen.” However, afterwards she let her lawyers do the talking and declined to answer questions from reporters.
The hearing broke little new ground from what has already been reported from court filings. Judge Beverly Cannone made no immediate ruling on motions filed by Read’s lawyers.
Read is accused of backing over her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV outside the Canton home of Boston police officer Brian Albert and leaving O’Keefe for dead shortly after midnight during a snowstorm in January 2022.
The couple went to attend a party at Albert’s house after a night of bar hopping but Read decided to go back to O’Keefe’s after dropping him off.
Prosecutors say she likely had a blood alcohol level at the time of between 0.135and 0.29%, well above the 0.08 % legal driving limit for intoxication.
But nearly all the evidence in the case is in dispute, and Read’s lawyers, David Yannetti of Boston and Alan Jackson of Los Angeles, argued in court that she is unjustly accused and the victim of a cover up by authorities.
They also accused the prosecution of delaying turning over evidence in the case and say they have uncovered cellphone evidence through their own investigation that they say clears Read.
“They can attempt to stall us. They can attempt to hide. They can attempt to manipulate and delay. But we will not waiver in our quest for what the truth is here,” Yannetti said outside the court after the hearing, with Read by his side.
Inside the courtroom, Yannetti and Jackson argued that Read never struck O’Keefe. Instead, they said O’Keefe was severely beaten in the basement and attacked by Albert’s German shepherd before being dragged outside and left on the front lawn in the blizzard.
“It looked like he had gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson,” Jackson told the judge.
Yannetti argued that cellphone health data from O’Keefe’s phone indicated he went inside Albert’s house. But Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally replied that O’Keefe’s Waze app showed the health information was collected before he even got to the house.
Jackson suggested the evidence pointed to Albert because he is a trained fighter and argued that after O’Keefe’s death he ripped out the basement carpet before the house was sold and his dog was “re-homed” with someone else.
In court papers opposing the defense request for Albert’s phone records, Albert’s lawyer, Gregory Henning of Boston, said his client “has been chosen by the defense as one of the scapegoats.”
Henning wrote Albert and his wife decided to sell their home in 2021 and made minor improvements to it at the suggestion of their real estate agent to increase the sale price.
They also decided to “re-home” the dog, Chloe, to a new owner after it escaped from a fenced-in area in the yard and “went after” a neighbor’s pet four months after O’Keefe died, Henning wrote.
The defense is seeking access to Canton town records for the dog as well as saliva samples to compare with wounds on O’Keefe’s right arm that they contend are bite marks from an animal.
In response to the defense argument saying photos show O’Keefe was beaten and bit by a dog, Lally said O’Keefe’s abrasions were “caused by blunt force trauma.” He suffered skull fractures and brain swelling which caused his eye injuries, Lally said.
The prosecutor said the defense was on a “fishing expedition” and that witnesses from the hospital emergency room and the medical examiner confirmed the cause of his injuries.
“There is no evidence Mr. O’Keefe was beaten and left for dead,” Lally said.
The lawyers also differ on when the rear taillight on Read’s SUV was broken. The prosecution argues that happened when she backed into O’Keefe, as evidenced by hair found embedded at the rear of the car.
Defense lawyers argue video evidence shows Read backing into O’Keefe’s car later that evening at his home. They are seeking video evidence from the Canton Public Library that they believe will show Read driving back from Albert’s home.
However, they say the video they received from the prosecution is missing video from the time Read would have driven by the library.
Lally replied that he gave the defense what he received and blamed technical issues that they are trying to resolve with an expert.
Both sides have also argued about a Google search Albert’s sister-in-law and after-party guest, Jennifer McCabe, made for “Ho(w) long to die in cold,” according to court records.
The defense says their forensic expert determined the search occurred hours before the prosecution says O’Keefe’s body was found by Read, McCabe and another woman returned to Albert’s house about 6 a.m.
In a response, Lally said in a court filing that McCabe made the search after they found O’Keefe’s body at Read’s request. McCabe’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington of Brockton, told The Sun Chronicle that his client was not part of any conspiracy and said she passed a lie detector test.
The prosecutor also defended state Trooper Michael Proctor, an investigator the defense claims has personal relationships with Albert and McCabe. Lally said there was no personal relationship or coverup.
But Yannettii, referring to reports that the U.S. attorney’s office is investigating the case, urged the judge to grant their motions for evidence. “Karen Read should not have to wait for the feds to figure out which heads should roll,” Yannettii said.
Read has pleaded innocent to second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving impaired, and leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury and death. She remains free on $75,000 bail. A trial date hasn’t been set.
O’Keefe’s family also attended the hearing and wore “Justice for J.J.” buttons.