The 20th day of Karen Read’s second trial began mysteriously, with Judge Beverly J. Cannone announcing she would have to interview each juror one by one this morning.
“Good morning, jurors. So an issue has come to my attention that it is going to make it necessary that I talk to each one of you individually over at sidebar with counsel,” Cannone said at the top of the day, which started about 30 minutes late, of Read’s trial at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham.
“That process will take a little while, so… Don’t speculate as to what I’m going to talk to you about. Please when you go back to the deliberation room, talk about anything but this case and I’ll see each of you individually,” she continued.
Those watching from home will be unable to watch or listen in as cameras will be shut off for this probably lengthy situation. Watch this page for any updates.
While the purpose of the interviews was not stated, retired state Superior Court Judge Jack Lu told the Herald he’s pretty sure what’s happening.
“It is almost certainly a ‘voir dire’ of jurors to determine whether they know of, one, extraneous information … and, two, if yes, does it affect that jurors’ impartiality?” Lu, who now serves as a mediator and teaches law and criminal justice as an adjunct professor at Boston College, UMass Lowell, and New England Law among others, told the Herald.
“It makes Justice Cannone’s decision to impanel 18 (so many) look like a genius move. Justice Cannone anticipated this development ten times over,” he continued.
Earlier story
The Karen Read trial moved on from the tense testimony of a prosecution digital forensics expert back to physical evidence. You can watch court proceedings of retrial Day 20 in the video player below.
Read, 45, of Mansfield, faces charges including second-degree murder in the death of John O’Keefea Boston Police officer who she had dated for roughly two years. She was tried last year but that ended in mistrial.
Prosecutors say Read struck O’Keefe with her Lexus LX570 SUV sometime after midnight and left him to freeze and die on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Road in Canton. The defense counters there was no vehicle strike at all, that others killed O’Keefe and that a corrupt investigation framed Read.
Most of Monday and Tuesday was spent with Aperture LLC digital forensics expert Shanon Burgess. He testified that in his analysis the “back-up event” that prosecutors say caused O’Keefe’s death occurred at 12:32:04 to 12:32:12 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022, though the process could have been longer as the vehicle records events only within a specific “window” of seconds.
But much of his time on the bench was getting criticized by defense attorney Robert Alessi for “academic dishonesty” — Burgess has a bachelor degree listed on his CV, public company profile and LinkedIn page, but admits he hasn’t actually earned the degree yet.
Tuesday ended with the beginning testimony of Christina Hanley, a forensic scientist with the Massachusetts State Police crime lab’s trace, arson and explosives unit.
She testified that she received several pieces of evidence to perform physical match comparisons and some instrumental analysis. Those items were a clear glass cup and clear plastic and glass pieces found at the property, as well as five pieces of clear glass from Read’s bumper, all were “broken” with “irregular edges.”
She was just beginning to testify to her analysis when court ended for the day. She is expected to return today.
This is a developing story.
Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald
Forensic scientist from the Mass. State Police Crime Lab, Christina Hanley, testifies at the the Karen Read trial Tuesday. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Watch live
Originally Published: May 21, 2025 at 9:14 AM EDT
