As the start of the retrial of Karen Read approaches, prosecutors and defense attorneys are sparring through a series of motions — with Read's team raising questions about an embattled Massachusetts State Police trooper's actions during the first trial.
A mistrial was declared due to a hung jury at Read's trial last year. She is facing charges, including second-degree murder, in the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, in Canton.
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Prosecutors say Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV, leaving him to die outside a home on Fairview Road. She and her attorneys have argued she has been framed by people inside the home and law enforcement in a coverup.
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On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court denied a defense motion to dismiss the murder charge, and another for leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death, clearing the way for the second trial at Norfolk Superior Court.
Read's attorneys have also filed a motion to get all video from the day Read's vehicle was impounded — and for that footage to be "properly forensically imaged and preserved."
The video, showing Read's SUV in the Canton Police Department sallyport, has been a source of contention since the first trial, when the defense raised questions about it being inverted.
According to the defense, prosecutors "disclosed for the first time" on Jan. 22 that more surveillance footage from the police department "may be in the possession of law enforcement on a retired detective's work computer."
Attorneys for Read argue that if it isn't properly obtained, metadata associated with the footage will be destroyed.
"The metadata underlying the video files at issue is not only central to this case but is also exculpatory," the defense motion reads. "It is absolutely necessary that this information be obtained in a forensically sound manner."
"It's really very difficult to justify the collection and preservation of evidence in this case by law enforcement," NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne said Wednesday.
Another motion, filed by the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office, asks the court to order Read's team to submit information for reciprocal discovery by March 6. The request includes details about witnesses the defense plans to call, their written and recorded statements, and any evidence it plans to use "to attempt to impeach the credibility of the Commonwealth's potential witnesses."
Prosecutors wrote in their motion that they seek to "prevent 'trial by ambush.'"
The defense, in another motion, asked the court to reconsider making Read's team produce impeachment evidence before witness testimony, citing several questions it had during the first trial — including whether Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator who has since been suspended from the state police, was following along with the proceedings despite being a witness.
Read's attorneys wrote that Proctor had texted Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally on July 1 that he "didn't watch a****** Jackson's closing for good reason," referring to defense attorney Alan Jackson.
"Like all of us the anticipation and anxiety of verdict has us all on edge," Proctor continued, according to the motion.
The defense said the exchange shows Proctor "likely violated the sequestration order with the knowledge of the Prosecution."
"Mr. Proctor's message suggests that his decision not to watch the proceedings on July 1, 2024 was not out of effort to abide by the sequestration order, but was instead related [to the] nature of the defense closing argument itself," the motion reads. "The message implies that Mr. Proctor had been following the trial online and simply skipped the defense closing argument because he does not like Attorney Jackson."
Massachusetts State Police suspended Proctor without pay in July after he testified about a series of inappropriate texts he sent about the case.
He called Read a "whack job c***," making disparaging remarks about her medical conditions. He said after going through her phone that he had found "no nudes so far." In a text to his sister, Courtney Proctor, he said of Read, "Hopefully she kills herself." And when a friend suggested the owner of the home outside of which O'Keefe was found could "receive some s***," Proctor replied, "Nope, homeowner is a Boston cop, too."
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Proctor has appeared twice before the Massachusetts State Police trial board. His case has been continued to March 13.
Read's attorneys go on to say the high-profile nature of the case, "including pervasive media coverage and real-time streaming of the in-court proceedings during trial ... creates opportunity and temptation for witnesses to watch the testimony of others, in violation of the sequestration order."
The defense referenced other witnesses' testimony that it says shows they had "tailored their testimony ... to account for impeachment evidence" it submitted. Ahead of the retrial, Read's lawyers are asking to withhold such evidence "until after the witness has testified on direct examination."
"To the extent this stuff is admissible, allow it to be admitted, and let the jury ultimately determine which side's evidence is more credible," Coyne said about the series of motions.
The retrial of Karen Read is set to begin in April.
