Lawyers fighting the murder trial of Karen Read gave their closing arguments on Friday, after weeks of testimonies in one of the most divisive cases ever. In this case, the concept of jaded love gone wrong is being countered “by a defense claim that a cast of tight-knit Boston area law enforcement killed a fellow police officer,” according to an AP report.
What is the Karen Read case all about?
Karen Read, aged 45, is accused of killing her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, 46, who is also a Boston law enforcement officer. She allegedly struck him with her SUV and let him die in the snow outside an ongoing house party where other Boston law enforcement officers, along with O’Keefe were out drinking in the neighborhood of Canton.
Read has been charged with manslaughter and second-degree murder, and also for fleeing the scene after hitting her boyfriend. Meanwhile, Read’s attorney defended the charges, saying that she was becoming a scapegoat in a conspiracy that even included falsely planting evidence that implicated her.
The first trial related to these murder charges was held on July 1 last year, but it ended with a hung jury. “Several jurors came out after to say that the panel had unanimously agreed that Read was not guilty of the most serious charge of second-degree murder,” reads an AP report.
“The state’s case was led by special prosecutor Hank Brennan, who called fewer witnesses than prosecutor Adam Lally, who ran the first trial against Read. Brennan has referenced Read’s statement about the possibility that she backed into O’Keefe, which the defense has pointed out came not from police reports but from a voluntary interview she did for a documentary series,” the report continued.
Meanwhile, Read’s second trial started off with the defense team claiming that she was being implicated. “Defense attorneys presented a different view of how Read’s taillight was cracked. They have attempted to show, via witnesses, surveillance video, and photographs, that Read may have damaged her taillight the morning after O’Keefe’s death when she backed out of his driveway and bumped his car with her own,” says the AP report.