It's Been a Bad Week for Supporters of Karen Read

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

We're just about five weeks from the retrial in the Karen Read murder case. As an aside, I've got friends who've received their jury summonses for Norfolk Superior Court for the beginning of April. And I can assure you they have very definitive ideas on what happened in the death of Police Officer John O'Keefe (RIP). Meaning it's going to take a big percentage of the population of my former home county to find the 16 or so "fair and impartial" jurors to sit and decide this case for a second time. 

And as the date approaches, things have been heating up on both sides. There have been new additions to both the prosecution and the defense. The Commonwealth has tried, and failed, to get some of the defense's expert witnesses disqualified from testifying next time around. And in turn, the defense has argued that the state didn't provide all the video evidence they had during the first trial and are suddenly finding new footage like kernels of old popcorn between the sofa cushions. 

To put it in Masshole terms, this feels less like any court proceeding I was ever involved in than it does the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry in the late 1990s-to-mid 2000s. Where every other day there's some big acquisition, rumor, planted story, press conference, each side talking crap about the other, and above all, seething resentment. All of which you know is going to only get nastier once we hit early April and the beanballs start flying for real. 

Which brings us to yesterday afternoon, when the drama reached mid-season form. A motion by the prosecution caused Judge Beverly Cannone (I repeat by way of full disclosure I did some sessions and trials in her courtroom, but had no kind of working relationship with her) to take a recess, before retaking the bench. And she was visibly shook:

Here's a brief summary of what was going on that led to this reaction:

Daily Mail - The judge presiding over the high profile murder trial of Karen Read, a Boston woman accused of killing her cop boyfriend, dramatically ended proceedings yesterday with a shaky courtroom outburst.

Judge Beverly Cannone visibly trembled as she adjourned the session, citing 'evidence' that she says changes everything.  …

Before Cannone called for the unplanned recess, special prosecutor Hank Brennan revealed in court that Read's defense team had communicated with accident reconstruction experts from ARCCA Inc. hired by the FBI about their testimony before Read's first trial. 

Brennan read what appeared to be emails between the defense and ARCCA and pointed out a $23,925 bill that he said the ARCCA sent to the defense. 

'The commonwealth, as I understand it, was not aware of any promised rewards or inducements or payments,' Brennan said. 'They relied on a reciprocal discovery order of this court for that information.' 

Calling out the bombshell payment request on Tuesday, Cannone, who was visibly trembling as she spoke, said: 'The commonwealth just provided the court with information that causes me grave concern. 

'The implications of that information may have profound effects on this defense and defense counsel. 

'So, for that reason, I'm going to suspend today so that when we meet again to address these issues, all affected will be appropriately prepared.' 

So Read's legal team called a witness to testify on accident reconstruction. He helped their case by explaining how her SUV could not have caused O'Keefe's injuries. The defense asserted they did not hire him.:

He was simply the expert called in by the Feds in their hearings regarding how the Commonwealth had conducted its investigation into O'Keefe's death. Are you with me so far? Good. Stay with me, now.

Now it appears they did, in fact, pay their expert. Just shy of $24,000, as a matter of fact. And the prosecution is contending Read's side not only covered those payments up, but they have communications that suggest the defense was going to get whatever testimony they paid for:

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How this will affect the retrial is way above my pay grade. I was a badge monkey. Not only was I never a referee, I was barely the guy on the sideline who holds the pole with the "X" on top that marks where the drive started. I let the judges do the actual … well, judging. I mean, this can't be good for the defense. But maybe as legal issue it won't have much of an impact one way or the other. We'll know for sure on February 25th. 

But what I am qualified to do is weigh in on what it'll mean to the world if this particular expert isn't allowed to testify again. To those of us who live on the internet, this will be a tough loss. And to the ladies who were obsessed with this trial the first go 'round, not having him on the stand will be a heavy blow to their spirits indeed.

Because the witness we're all discussing was one of the true breakout stars of the first trial. An instant sensation who rocked the legal and social media world. I'm talking about none other than Crash Daddy. This tall drink of Prosecco who set hearts all aflutter:

Wait for the needle drop here:

This Dr. Wolfe was a rock star. But not just among those with a predilection toward men who cut an attractive figure. He also appealed to the hetero men in the audience with an appreciation for DIY projects, engineering, and Mythbusters when he explained how he tested whether or not John O'Keefe's cocktail glass could've shattered Karen Read's taillight by building a freaking cannon: 

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"Pretty awesome," indeed. Crash Daddy made more babies with that bit of testimony that Tyreek Hill did in all of 2023. And now the possibility of any future return to the witness stand is very much up in the air. It's in Cannone's hands. If it were up to a popular vote, it would be a landslide election. But even the Commonwealth has rights that need to be protected. 

As far as other news that might actually benefit Read, her attorneys let it be known they've filed a motion in federal court that argues the retrial is a violation of her rights under Double Jeopardy. And by that they're referring to the Constitutional provision, and not the hilarious John McClane wisecrack:

Like the rest of this week's proceedings, the outcome of that remains to be seen. But if you're on Karen Read's side in all this, it's hard to imagine yesterday was anything but a disaster. Stay tuned.