Karen Read Retrial Recap No. 7: The Defense is Going Hard in the Paint After the Ex-Canton Cop Who Changed Her Story and Got a Massive Pay Raise

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

As I've said before, the vast majority of times, when the jury in a criminal case announces its verdicts of Not Guilty, that's pretty much it. The judge may ask them to go back to the jury room for a few minutes to thank them for their service, but nothing more. The badge monkey like me tells them they'll get a certificate in the mail confirming they completed their duty in case their employers ask for it. They're told they're exempt from getting called for the next three years. But beyond that, the whole affair is done and dusted once the foreman has read the verdicts in open court. The prosecutors and court staff move onto the next day's trial list. The defendant and the defense team go back to their lives and careers. Their W goes into the books. 

But as I've also repeated ad nauseum, the Commonwealth v. Karen Read Parts I & II were not in the vast majority of times. These were unique. Data points on the graph where the lines of Homicide, Townie Politics, Alleged Police Corruption, Masshole Culture, Public Outrage and Media Circus all intersect. And a case like this isn't about to just fade into the ether. Even though we're approaching the one month anniversary of the end of the trial. 

The epicenter of the latest radioactive fallout from the nuclear blast that was this trial is former Canton Police Officer-turned-Boston Police Officer Kelly Dever. The one with the vaguely Canton Anne Hathaway looks and the spot-on Aubrey Plaza attitude on the witness stand:

Well we've had two major updates over Officer April Ludgate since the end of last week. The first being that her boss, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox:

… was finally asked about the Read trial. This is significant because Dever was called to the stand by the defense. Their line of questioning was about Dever telling the FBI when she was still on Canton PD, she saw ATF Agent/trial witness Brian Higgins and her Police Chief alone in the sally port with the alleged murder weapon "for a wildly long time." 

Advertisement

That is, until she got a transfer to the Boston PD. And a got a private meeting with Cox who told her to "do the right thing." Which was followed by her recanting her story, claiming she misremembered harder than anyone since Roger Clemens testified in front of Congress over PEDs. And then received several "wildly" big bumps in pay:

… at City of Boston and had an annual salary of $143,562 according to public records. 

------------------------------- 

In year 2023 Kelly Dever's salary was 36 percent lower than average Police Officer salary in the state of Massachusetts. 

In year 2024 Kelly Dever's salary was 7 percent higher than average Police Officer salary in the state of Massachusetts.

And what Cox did was confirm that he and his employee have "wildly" different versions of events:

Source -  Kelly Dever, a current Boston police officer, was called to the stand by Read’s defense team on June 2. She was working dispatch for the Canton Police Department when John O’Keefe was found dead.

While Dever was on the stand, the defense implied that Cox influenced her testimony.

Dever confirmed she had a conversation with Cox about the murder case at some point before taking the stand in the retrial, but she denied getting any guidance.

“He just wanted me to tell the truth,” Dever said of Cox. …

[R]eporters caught up with Cox and questioned him about Dever’s testimony.

“Your name came up during the recent Karen Read trial. You got a visit from Officer Kelly Dever. The defense implied you influenced her testimony. Do you want to respond to that?” Cox was asked.

Cox quickly answered, “I have nothing to do with Karen Read. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know this person was associated with the Karen Read case. 

“I have an organization full of over 3,000 people, and we support all our folks. The reality is that I get information passed on, whether those people are high or low, and I encourage everyone,” Cox continued. “If you want to work here and you belong here, then we’re going to encourage you. I have no idea what they’re talking about with Karen Read. I had nothing to do with Karen Read, no discussion about Karen Read.”

Cox was then asked, “Did you tell Officer Dever to do the right thing?”

“I didn’t know she was even associated with that case,” Cox answered. “I was struck like, ‘What do I have to do with the Karen Read case?’ I’ve never said those words together. So, the fact is it’s much to do about nothing.”

So what we've got here is the equivalent of Jim Gordon publicly accusing Officer Blake of lying under oath in a homicide trial. Except that Gotham never gave the future Robin a raise of $57,829, which is [subtract, cross multiply, divide] 40.2% in a single year, just as he was about to testify against Bane. 

I mean, that is a very generous kiss in the mail for a young police officer you just accused of perjuring herself in the trial in which fellow BPD Officer John O'Keefe was found murdered. Either a witness in O'Keefe's homicide case is lying, or the head of the department he served with distinction all those years on the force is lying. Which is worse is just a matter of degrees. 

The other development regarding Dever is that Read's attorneys are showing zero interest in letting go of any of this just because they won the war. Instead, they're doing the legal equivalent of setting up a War Crimes Tribunal:

NBC Boston -  One of Karen Read's defense attorneys is demanding that a Boston police officer who testified during the trial be added to the "Brady List" -- which is a compilation of law enforcement officers with credibility concerns that prosecutors most disclose to defense attorneys in criminal cases.

In a scathing letter sent to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox on Thursday, defense attorney Alan Jackson said Officer Kelly Dever must be included in the Brady database because Dever's credibility and reliability as a law enforcement officer are "irreparably compromised" after what occurred on the stand during Read's retrial. …

During her testimony under oath, however, Dever changed her statement, claiming that her observations were  a "false memory." She maintained under oath and throughout her testimony that the events she described to the federal agents never happened, that the “memory” she was recounting was “false,” and that the events she described did not actually occur, Jackson said.

"It is clear, therefore, that one of two things is true: Either Officer Dever lied about having a false memory, or she actually suffers from a condition that subjects her to false memories. In either case, her credibility and reliability as a law enforcement officer are irreparably compromised," Jackson wrote in his letter. 

"If she lied under oath, Officer Dever is guilty of perjury. If she truly suffers from false memories, she is unfit to serve as a police officer. Her reports, statements, and testimony can no longer be presumed accurate, and any case—current or prior— involving Officer Dever must be reviewed accordingly," Jackson added.

Jackson told Cox it is incumbent on his department to immediately include Dever in the Brady Database, and all information surrounding her claimed “false memories” must be disclosed to the defense in every case in which she is a witness or potential witness. 

First I obviously have a huge problem with naming a list of untrustworthy, unreliable, and possibly corrupt people "The Brady List," especially in this state. I suggest using that name for your list of outstanding, heroic officers who exemplify everything that you look for in law enforcement professionals who get falsely convicted of wrongdoing by supremely evil bureaucrats but get completely exonerated in the end, thus exposing the very people who accused him as the crooked fecking scumbags they truly are. Change this Brady List to "The Hernandez List" and call it a day. Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

With that out of the way, I don't know what the counter-argument to Jackson's demand. Kelly Dever was either horrendously wrong about seeing two parties with unfettered access to the alleged murder weapon in a murder case, or she lied under oath. Either way, Cox owes it to the public to label her as such for the next time she's called to investigate a crime or testify.

Advertisement

Or, and hear me out on this one, there's a third possibility. Which is that she told the truth to FBI investigators. But since the owner of the house where O'Keefe was found near death was also a member of Cox' department, there was an incentive for everyone to encourage her to change her story. In which case the only people who'd suffer were the taxpayer's of Boston who are on the hook for almost $60K a year in hush money to someone who not only told different stories under oath twice, but also took an oath to protect and defend them. 

Given that Option 3 seems the most plausible, it's a safe bet that Jackson't demand doesn't get addressed. It will just get shelved. And Dever, who's out on a leave of absence, gets quietly sent somewhere to collect her pay and never has to work on a criminal case ever again until she reaches retirement age. In about 25 years. It's not bad work if you can get it. All it requires is that you have the goods on a connected person, and someone in a position of power who wants to keep you quiet. 

That's how things go when you work for the government in Massachusetts. Unfortunately in this instance, it also means a good man's murder will forever remain unsolved. John O'Keefe deserved better.