One of the jurors who voted to acquit Karen Read of murder over the death of her Boston cop boyfriend has spoken out about the decision.
The juror, only identified as Jason, told TMZ that there were a lot of ‘holes’ in the case prosecutors presented as they argued Read drunkenly rammed her SUV into her boyfriend, former Boston police officer John O’Keefe, and left him to die in blizzard conditions on January 29, 2022.
‘There was holes in that case that left reasonable doubt,’ Jason said, though he noted he was not sure whether police corruption played a role in the ‘poor investigation’ into O’Keefe’s death – as Read’s defense had suggested.
‘I don’t know if there was any corruption going on, but I do know that there wasn’t enough proof or evidence secured by the police to convict Karen Read, absolutely,’ he explained.
The jury ultimately returned a not guilty verdict on the charges of murder and leaving the scene resulting in death on Wednesday. However, Read was found guilty of Operating Under the Influence and was sentenced to probation.
She had already faced the charges at a trial last year. But after five days of deliberations, Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial as the jurors remained split on whether she intentionally killed her boyfriend.
Jason said that during her second trial there was initially some division amongst the 12 jurors as some were convinced she was ‘definitely innocent,’ while others agreed there was enough reasonable doubt to acquit her on at least the most serious charges.
Others remained on the fence and ‘a few’ thought she was guilty – before being persuaded that there was too much reasonable doubt.
But Jason said he doesn’t believe Read ever even hit O’Keefe with her SUV, as the prosecutors had claimed.
Karen Read was found not guilty on charges of murder and leaving the scene resulting in death
She had been accused of drunkenly ramming her SUV into her boyfriend, former Boston police officer John O’Keefe, and leaving him to die in blizzard conditions on January 29, 2022
He pointed out that the jury was shown a video that showed Read’s taillight was working fine after the alleged collision – despite prosecutors saying they found pieces of broken taillight around O’Keefe’s body.
Jason said he now remains unsure what happened to O’Keefe on the night of January 22, 2022, but he does not believe Read was responsible.
The only thing the prosecution convinced the jury on, he said, was that there was ‘enough evidence she was driving under the influence.’
Prosecutors had argued Read was drinking with O’Keefe and a group of his friends at the Waterfall Bar and Grill in Canton – about 14 miles south of Boston – when they were invited to an afterparty at his friend Brian Albert’s home.
Read had even admitted to having several alcoholic drinks beforehand, but said she decided to drop O’Keefe off at the afterparty before she returned to his house.
According to Read’s version of events, she woke up at 4am to find that O’Keefe never returned home, leading her to frantically drive out to try and find him.
After finding O’Keefe’s body outside the home – which party attendees claimed he never entered – first responders on the scene alleged that Read repeatedly told them she hit him while in a panicked state.
The prosecutors then argued that Read was a scorned lover who chose to leave O’Keefe dying in the snow, after striking him with her SUV.
Read previously faced the charges at a trial last year, but when the jury could not reach a verdict, a mistrial was declared
Prosecutors portrayed Read as a scorned lover who chose to leave O’Keefe dying in the snow, after striking him with her SUV
Investigators said they found pieces of broken taillight around O’Keefe’s body, however Read’s defense alleged this could have been planted after the debris was not found in an initial search and was only discovered hours later
O’Keefe’s cause of death was ultimately listed as blunt force trauma and hypothermia after police say he was left outside in a blizzard.
The couple had been dating for two years at the time and were said to be having arguments in their relationship.
Read’s defense team, though, suggested O’Keefe was beaten, bitten by a dog, then left outside a home in the Boston suburb in a conspiracy orchestrated by the police that included planting evidence – the taillights the police had found.
They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a ‘convenient outsider’ who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects.
At the center of their argument were claims that the investigation was inappropriately handled by dishonorably discharged State Trooper Michael Proctor, who sent vulgar text messages about Read.
He was fired over texts that included calling Read a ‘whack job’ and a ‘c***.’
In other messages, he joked about rummaging through her phone for nude photos during the investigation, and remarked that she had ‘no a**.’
Defense attorney Alan Jackson brought Proctor up again in his closing arguments as he claimed the prosecution could only feign a case because ‘their investigation was flawed from the start because their investigator was corrupted from the start by bias, personal loyalties.’
Jackson went on to argue that experts agree ‘there was no collision,’ and concluded by saying ‘reasonable doubt abounds.’
In brief remarks following the verdict, Read thanked her lawyers and her fans
The case – and the suggestion that there was a police coverup – captivated America, as Read gained a cult following from the widespread social media coverage and hit HBO documentary of the case.
The ‘Free Karen Read’ supporters were such a presence at her trial that the judge ordered they be kept 500 feet away from the courthouse and banned attendees inside the court from wearing pink, a color that they wore to show support for Read.
‘Honestly, that made the pressure a lot harder and it did not give me comfort, it made it a lot harder to block everything out,’ Jason said of the crowd outside, noting that ‘all of the eyes were on us.’
But he insisted Read’s widespread support played no role in the jury’s final decision, and when the verdict was finally read on Wednesday, Read was greeted by a massive crowd of pink-clad fans shouting ‘Karen Read is free.’
One supporter told DailyMail.com she was ecstatic over the news and was ready to help fight for justice for O’Keefe.
‘God, this is just. The American jury system prevailed, and the Commonwealth failed. The Commonwealth failed its people. The jury came back with a just verdict,’ said Rita Lombardi, who had been at court nearly every day.
‘This is history, and this is what ordinary people did: ordinary people raised their voices in positive and productive ways to speak truth to power.
‘My message to the people who did this to John is that you failed miserably. It’s just the beginning,’ she warned.
Read gained a cult following from the widespread social media coverage and hit HBO documentary of the case
In brief remarks following the verdict, Read thanked her lawyers and her fans.
‘I could not be standing here without these amazing supporters who have supported me and my team financially and more importantly emotionally for almost four years,’ she said.
‘No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have. Than I have, and my team.’
But O’Keefe’s loved ones – including the party host Brian Albert – condemned the not guilty verdict as a ‘miscarriage of justice.’
‘Today, our hearts are with John and the entire O’Keefe family. They have suffered through so much and deserved better from our justice system,’ they said in a statement.
‘While we may have more to say in the future, today we mourn with John’s family and lament the cruel reality that this prosecution was infected by lies and conspiracy theories spread by Karen Read, her defense team, and some in the media.
‘The result is a devastating miscarriage of justice.’
The statement was penned by Jennifer McCabe, Matthew McCabe, Chris Albert, Julie Albert, Colin Albert, Nicole Albert, Brian Albert, Kerry Roberts, and Curt Roberts, some of whom were at the house party the night O’Keefe died.