Opening statements in Karen Read’s murder trial are expected to start Monday morning.
Read allegedly killed her boyfriend – Boston police officer John O’Keefe – when she backed over him with her car after an alcohol-infused fight during a snowy night on Jan 29, 2022, outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts, according to prosecutors.
Not only has Read pleaded not guilty to murder, among other charges, her legal team argued Read was framed by people in the Canton, Massachusetts, home, as part of a top-to-bottom cover-up, which is part of an ongoing federal investigation.
Her lawyers argued O’Keefe was attacked by a dog during a fight with someone in the house. The judge ruled last week that Read’s defense team will be allowed to argue someone else killed O’Keefe, but not during opening statements.
Karen Read departs Norfolk Superior Court following a day of jury selection, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor’easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
O’Keefe’s body was found in the snow, and he was pronounced dead in the hospital, despite life-saving measures.
Since then, the case has conjured divisive rhetoric that split the Boston suburb, and included conspiracy-fueled side spectacles, like the arrest of local blogger Aidan Kearney, also known as “Turtleboy.”
KAREN READ MASSACHUSETTS TRIAL: 3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WOMAN CHARGED WITH OFFICER BOYFRIEND’S MURDER
Kearney has been a staunch supporter of Read and led “Free Karen” rallies, but prosecutors allege he crossed the line and charged him with several counts of witness intimidation.
The judge ruled Kearney can attend the trial. He said it was a “complete victory” in a Facebook live stream after the hearing last week.
Karen Read appears in Norfolk County Superior Court for a pre-trial hearing. She is charged with the murder of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Officer John O’Keefe poses for his official headshot. O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Reed, is currently on trial for murder after he was found dead outside of a Massachusetts home in January 2022. (Boston Police Department)
O’Keefe suffered multiple wounds, including skull fractures consistent with blunt-force trauma that led to bleeding in the brain, swollen black eyes and several lacerations and abrasions to his right arm and hands.
But the autopsy has been under lock and key, which is why forensic expert Joseph Scott Morgan told Fox News Digital that the autopsy and the forensic investigator’s testimony will be pivotal in the trial.
Read’s high-powered defense team, including Alan Jackson, who helped Kevin Spacey get acquitted on sexual assault charges in 2019, said in court documents the investigation was “sloppy” and concealed a complex web of personal and romantic relationships.
Last week, 19 jurors were selected from a pool of about 400 potential jurists after a two-week process.
WATCH: Morgan previews potential arguments for O’Keefe’s injuries
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A local law professor said an impartial jury, with the media hype and speculation, was paramount.
“The influence of media, social media, the sidebars with the turtle blogger. All the information that’s been going back and forth from the DA’s office and the defense team, I think it’s going to be a long road to pick an impartial jury,” Suffolk University Law Professor Christopher Dearborn told CBS News.
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