The special prosecutor who ledthe retrial of Karen Readis “disappointed” in the jury’s decision last week acquitting Read of killing her police officer boyfriend – saying Monday in his first statement since the verdict “the evidence led to one person, and only one person.”
“I am disappointed in the verdict and the fact that we could not achieve justice for John O’Keefe and his family,” said Hank Brennan, who was appointed by the Norfolk County, Massachusetts, district attorney to retry the case against Read after her first trial ended with a hung jury.
Read had been accused of drunkenly striking O’Keefe, a Boston cop, with her SUV on a wintry night in January 2022. But she was vindicated last week when her jury found Read not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. Jurors did convict Read of drunken driving, for which she will serve one year of probation.
Upon his appointment, Brennan – himself a well-knowncriminal defense attorney – was given “full discretion to independently assess the case and follow the evidence no matter where it led,” he said. But neither his own review nor a federal investigation into the case that he says is closed yielded “any other possible suspect or person responsible for the death of John O’Keefe,” his statement says.
At trial, Brennan tried to convince jurors Read backed her SUV into O’Keefe outside a home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton clipping O’Keefe which led to a fall and multiple skull fractures around 12:30 a.m. on January 29, 2022.
Read had claimed to be the victim of a cover-up, alleging others responsible for O’Keefe’s death had conspired with police to frame her. And Read’s many supporters – both outside the Dedham, Massachusetts, courthouse and online – championed her case, echoing her allegations of police corruption as her defense inside the courtroom painted the investigation as flawed and biased.
As she left the courthouse last week, Read thanked her supporters and told reporters, “No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have.”
While it’s unclear whether the investigation into O’Keefe’s death will continue,Read’s defense attorneysin recent days have suggested more could be done: “They charged the wrong person. But somebody’s still out there,” David Yannetti told CNN affiliate WCVB.
In his statement Monday, Brennan also lamented what he called the “campaign of intimidation and abuse that has been waged, funded, and promoted in public and on social media,” saying it was “the antithesis of justice.”
“If this type of conduct becomes commonplace, it will threaten the integrity of our judicial system, affecting both victims and criminally accused,” he said, adding: “We cannot condone witness abuse, causing participants to worry for their own safety or that of their families.”
“It is my hope that with the verdict, the witnesses and their families will be left alone,” Brennan’s statement says. “The harassment of these innocent victims and family members is deplorable and should never happen again in a case in this Commonwealth.”
“My heartfelt condolences to the O’Keefe family and faith that over the coming years they will find peace and closure,” Brennan said.