A juror in the Karen Read mistrial now confirms what the defense claimed earlier this week — that the jury voted unanimously to acquit her on 2nd-degree murder — and the juror told the defense team it would be “unjust” to retry her.
According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the juror described the last day of the trial as a “whirlwind” and “very confusing.” After the judge declared a mistrial, jurors were loaded on a bus and the jurors were wondering, “Is anyone going to know that we acquitted [Karen Read] on Count 1 and 3? No one ever asked about those counts.”
As we first reported … Read was acquitted on charges of murder and leaving the scene of an accident by a unanimous vote of 12-0 in her favor. But, the jury was deadlocked on the last charge – vehicular manslaughter – voting 9-3 in favor of a guilty verdict. For a conviction on the vehicular manslaughter charge, the jury needed to be unanimous.
TMZ.com
The judge declared a mistrial, but never disclosed the vote count. Read’s attorney, Alan Jackson, then filed a motion pointing out that prosecutors should not be allowed to retry the murder case because it would amount to double jeopardy, which, by law, means you can’t be tried twice for the same crime.
According to the new court filing, the juror says the jury believed they were “compelled to come to a resolution on all counts before they could or should report verdicts on any of the counts.”
As for what allegedly happened, prosecutors contended Read got into an argument with her boyfriend, police officer John O’Keefe, back in 2022 before plowing into him with her SUV and fleeing the scene after a night of partying with friends.
But, Read’s legal team argued that Read was framed by police after she dropped off O’Keefe at a house filled with cops having a celebration. During their get-together, the lawyers said, O’Keefe was killed after a fight broke out, and he was dragged outside and left for dead in the snow. According to the defense, the officers pinned the crime on Read because they wanted someone else to take the fall.
During the trial, defense attorneys also discredited the case’s lead investigator, who was relieved of duty after it was revealed he sent sexist and offensive texts about Read.
Prosecutors, however, say it’s not over yet. … They plan to retry the case, although they haven’t detailed how they will go about it.