Protestors gather outside Norfolk Superior Court during Friday's pretrial hearing in the Karen Read murder case. Photo: Suzanne Sausville/ WBZ NewsRadio
DEDHAM, Massachusetts (WBZ NewsRadio) — A hearing was held in Norfolk Superior Court Friday regarding evidence in Karen Read's upcoming murder retrial.
Read is accused of leaving her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, to die in the snow after running him over with her SUV in January 2022. O'Keefe's body was found outside a Canton home where he had attended a small party the night of the alleged killing.
Read is set to be tried again in April after her first trial on charges including second degree murder and manslaughter ended in a hung jury last summer.
At Friday's hearing, the defense and prosecution sparred over a key piece of evidence in the case: a Google search from O'Keefe's friend Jennifer McCabe reading "hos long to die in cold."
The prosecution said McCabe made the search right before she and Read found O'Keefe's body, but the defense argues the search was actually made several hours beforehand. During the first trial, Read's lawyers called digital forensics expert Richard Green to testify to that end. The defense used Green's testimony in its broader argument that McCabe was actually part of an elaborate coverup to pin the killing on Read.
The defense wants Green to testify in the upcoming retrial, but prosecutors don't think he should be allowed to take the stand.
Prosecutor Hank Brennan argued in favor of a pretrial hearing to decide whether Green should be allowed to testify.
"[Green] should explain to the court how he has come to these baseless, inaccurate and prejudicial claims," Brennan said.
On the other side, defense attorney Robert Alessi defended the methodology behind Green's research.
"The Commonwealth said that there's no factual basis for what Mr. Green did, [but] there's a factual basis for everything and it's undisputed," Alessi said.
Judge Beverly Cannone said she would decide by Monday whether to hold a hearing.
Evidence from an interview Read gave with Boston Magazine also came front and center at Friday's hearing.
In December, Cannone granted prosecutors access to off-the-record notes from the interview between Read and reporter Gretchen Voss.
At Friday's hearing, Voss' attorney argued against granting prosecutors access to the notes, saying Cannone's ruling makes it harder for Voss to accurately report the news.
Cannone agreed to let Voss' attorney propose redactions to the interview material, but the attorney objected to that as well. Cannone said she would take Voss' motion under advisement.
WBZ NewsRadio's Suzanne Sausville (@wbzSausville) reports.
