Legal sparring escalates in trial of woman accused of killing Boston cop from Braintree
DEDHAM − Prosecutors want a judge to stop the defense team of a woman accused of killing her boyfriend, a Boston police officer from Braintree, from sharing some details and theories about the case outside the courtroom, WCVB reported.
The defendant, Karen Read, of Mansfield, is accused of hitting off-duty Boston police officer John O'Keefe with her vehicle outside a home on Fairview Road in Canton after a night of drinking on Jan. 29, 2022. The home belonged to another Boston police officer.
O'Keefe was found unresponsive in the snow outside the home the next morning. He was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton.
Read's attorneys have accused others of committing the crime and conspiring to cover it up.
The Norfolk County district attorney's office wants a judge to order all of Read's attorneys, in addition to prosecutors and witnesses, to stop making statements outside court that don't follow the court's rules.
"As part of their 'trial by media' strategy, the defendant has sought to target the witnesses' credibility and character through the use of the media and has encouraged the unwarranted invasion of witnesses' personal privacy," the prosecution wrote.
In April, Read's lawyers said they had "uncovered evidence that not only establishes her innocence but points to others' involvement in the tragic death of Officer O'Keefe." At the same time, the defense sought more evidence from prosecutors, including an analysis of the cellphones belonging to two people linked to the property where O'Keefe died.
Prosecutors have called the defense requests "a 'fishing expedition."
The statements, prosecutors wrote, "... go further than zealous representation; they are unsubstantiated proclamations, supported only by self-serving speculation and conjecture, likely not to be admissible at trial and done with the intent of materially prejudicing the criminal proceedings by risking the impartiality of potential jurors."
Read and her attorneys have argued in filings and comments that she is innocent and that authorities are covering evidence about the true perpetrators.
"What are they afraid of? They seem to be deeply fearful that we will get to the truth of what actually happened," one of her attorneys, Alan Jackson, said in court last month.
On the steps outside the courthouse, reporters asked Read if she committed the crime. She replied, "We know who did it."
"And we know who spearheaded this cover-up," she added.
The DA does not ask for Read to be covered by the judge's order it is requesting.
Prosecutors' request includes a reference to evidence that "establishes that the defendant, while intoxicated, in a snowstorm, operated her motor vehicle in reverse for a period of time, before striking the victim at a high rate of speed."
A spokesperson for the DA's office said the information was based on their reading of a newly available report prepared by the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section of the Read's vehicle data.
One of Read's attorneys, David Yannetti, said the legal team will oppose the DA's motion and also that the DA is "wrong" about Read's vehicle.
More: Karen Read, who is accused of killing Braintree's John O'Keefe, alleges 'cover-up'
More: Prosecutors: Defense waging 'fishing expedition' in death of Boston cop from Braintree
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: DA to judge: Stop 'trial by media' in death of Braintree native
