Karen Read murder trial jurors indicate they are deadlocked

Jurors began their deliberations on Tuesday afternoon following closing arguments. They deliberated then for maybe two and a half to three hours before being released for the day. They were released before 4 p.m. on both Wednesday and Thursday. Altogether, they had deliberated for nearly 17 hours and 30 minutes before they sent the note, per the Court TV-maintained deliberation clock. Because juror activities are unknown, it is not clear what portion of that time has actually been spent on breaks or non-deliberative activity.

Background

Jurors have begun their fourth day of deliberations in the Karen Read murder trial taking place in Dedham.

Judge Beverly Cannone convened court shortly after 9 a.m. in the shortest session seen so far in the deliberative process. There was no sidebar and Cannone just asked jurors if they were able to follow her instructions to not consume any media regarding this case, to not discuss the case with anyone and to not do their own outside investigations.

They answered: “Yes” or nodded affirmatively.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

The second of the indicted charges features two “lesser included charge” options: involuntary manslaughter and motor vehicle homicide. Read can be convicted of or found not guilty of each one.

Prosecutors say that Read — drunk from a night out on the town and angry as her jealousy and discontent in her relationship grew — slammed her Lexus SUV into her boyfriend of about two years, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, and left him to freeze and die on the front yard of a fellow Boston cop in Canton.

Defense attorneys fought back throughout the trial, arguing that a network of Canton locals, local police and the regional hierarchy of the Massachusetts State Police worked to cover the murderous deeds of others and frame their client.

The Herald has reported that the crowd of Read supporters who gather near the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham each morning in anticipation of a verdict has ebbed as the deliberations drag on.

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