After a three-week-long jury process, Karen Read’s retrial kicked off with opening statements on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Read arrived at the courthouse early this morning to appear for opening statements in the murder trial of John O’Keefe. Before the jury was allowed to hear both sides’ openers, Judge Beverly Cannone swore them in. She gave them descriptions of the charges against Read and information about the burden of proof. Both sides concluded their openers shortly before noon.
Karen Read is accused of hitting her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV after a night of bar hopping and leaving him for dead in a blizzard. She has denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her defense argues that she is a part of a cover-up by the Boston Police Department officers. A mistrial was declared after her first trial ended in a deadlocked jury. Her second trial began on April 1, 2025.
Prosecution and Defense Teams
On the prosecution side, there is Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan, whom Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey appointed to retry Karen Read’s case. There are also two Assistant District Attorneys, Adam Lally and Laura McLaughlin. Lally is one of Read’s first trial who led the prosecution.
Karen Read’s defense team is a much more abundant crew. The lead attorney and the first lawyer Read hired after being charged is David Yannetti, and he is assisted by other former Read trial attorneys, Alan Jackson and Elizabeth Little. The defense team even has Victoria George, who served as an alternate juror during the first trial, but did not deliberate. Finally, Robert Alessi is another assisting attorney.
Opening Statements
Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan started with opening statements by leaning into facts, science, and data. He began describing to the jurors the perspective of an initial witness, Timothy Nuttall, who was the responding paramedic to John O’Keefe the morning of January 29, 2022. He then leads the jury into instances where cell phone data was recovered, which he believes will prove Karen Read’s guilt.
When the prosecution concluded their opening statement, defense attorney Alan Jackson took over, detailing the case for the jurors and stating, “There was no collision with John O’Keefe.” He brought up Michael Proctor, the former lead investigator of the case, and his involvement. Proctor was fired from his position after the first trial when it was discovered he had been sending vulgar text messages about Karen Read.
“You’ll see from the evidence in this case that this case carries a malignancy … a cancer that cannot be cut out, a cancer that cannot be cured,” Jackson said. “And that cancer has a name. His name is Michael Proctor.”
Both sides claim science and facts will prove the other one wrong. While the prosecution claims the cell phone data and location of the Read’s vehicle will match and pin them at 34 Fairview Road, the defense plans to call an expert to testify against O’Keefe’s cause of death. Karen Read’s defense also has cell phone data to show one witness, Jennifer McCabe, googling, “hos (sic) long to die in cold,” on the night he died.
Prosecution Calls First Witness
The prosecution called Timothy Nuttall, the Canton firefighter and paramedic who responded to the scene where John O’Keefe’s body was. He testified there were no signs of life, and that O’Keefe’s body was “cold to the touch.” He described the injuries found on the body, including several notably deep scratches on his arm, a hematoma above his right eye, and dried blood on the back of his head.
Defense begins their cross-examination, outlining the inconsistencies in Nuttall’s testimony from the first trial. In regards to Karen Read screaming “I hit him” at the crime scene when Nuttall arrived, defense attorney Jackson asked, “If you testified last year that you heard the phrase twice?” He continued, “Now, a year goes by, and you’re testifying in front of this jury this year you heard it three times, those two statements are inconsistent with one another. Correct?” Nuttall did not disagree. It was also confirmed during the cross that O’Keefe could have been punched in the face, considering the injuries sustained.
Final Thoughts
“This case is the very definition of reasonable doubt,” according to Alan Jackson. Karen Read’s defense will have to execute their evidence differently than in the first trial if they want a chance at getting her acquitted. The judge ruled they are not allowed to point fingers at the same suspects, but may suggest alternative ones. The rest shall be the same, Karen Read fighting to prove her innocence, and the prosecution arguing she is a nasty murderer.
