DEDHAM, Mass. — As Karen Read was set to return to a Massachusetts court Monday afternoon to argue the murder charges against her should be dropped following her mistrial, supporters and protesters clashed, hurling swears at each other.
Read was expected back in the Norfolk County court in Dedham at 2 p.m. so her lawyers could argue that the murder case against her for the alleged slaying of her cop beau, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, on Jan. 29, 2022, should be tossed out after jurors allegedly came forward saying they had planned to clear her of murder.
Around 150 of Read’s supporters and roughly three dozen supporters of the O’Keefe family had shown up outside the courthouse hours ahead of the hearing, with one Read activist yelling “F–k the O’Keefe family” and a counter-protester calling blogger “Turtleboy” — who writes online about her innocence — a ‘F–king p–y.”
The opposing groups were kept on separate sides of the courthouse except when they periodically met in the middle and screamed vitriol over megaphones at each other.
After the panel deliberated for five days last month, Judge Beverly Cannone ruled the jury was deadlocked and declared a mistrial in the murder and manslaughter case against Read, 44.
Prosecutors immediately vowed to retry the case, but Read’s lawyers have since claimed that the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a crime should be thrown out because the jurors had actually reached a unanimous decision to acquit her of those two crimes and were only deadlocked on the charge of manslaughter and lesser crimes.
Read’s lawyers claimed that four jurors came forward to their firm explaining their intentions — a revelation that apparently contradicts the foreman’s notes which said the 12-member panel was at an impasse over Read’s fate because of their “deeply held beliefs.”
One juror confirmed to WBZ that they were in agreement to acquit Read of murder and leaving the scene but they were divided on the count of manslaughter with the final vote at a “soft” 9-3 in favor of conviction on the lesser charge.
But they didn’t know what to do with their unanimity on two charges and disagreement on one, the juror told the outlet.
Monday morning outside court, dozens of Read activists were already present, continuing to advocate for her innocence as they did in force throughout her trial.
Controversial “Turtleboy” blogger Aidan Kearney — who helped garner national support for Read’s defense by spouting conspiracy theories about the case — came to court hours before her hearing.
“I want the charges to be dropped and a full apology from the commonwealth and the charges to be dropped against me and the people who have murdered John O’Keefe to be held responsible and sent to prison,” Kearney said, referencing his own arrest for allegedly harassing investigators and witnesses in Read’s case.
Dina Warscal, 57, was also present to show solidarity for Read, as she did throughout the trial whenever she could get away from her job at an antique shop.
“There’s an innocent woman who a jury of 12 found her not guilty on two charges and now they’re going to retry her again,” said Warscal, a former employee in a police department. “That’s disgusting.”
Some 12 counter-protesters also appeared, including an O’Keefe family friend who said “it’s been horrific seeing the person who murdered their loved one being treated like a celebrity.”
The person said that the local animosity between supporters of Read’s innocence and advocates for O’Keefe and her guilt resulted in threats online and by mail and even prompted bogus restraining orders.
“There’s been a longstanding feud between certain people on either side of the support for this,” the counter-protester said.
“It’s frustrating. I think they try to intimidate us. If we speak out [about] how we feel, we are doxxed online,” the person explained. “People harass and call you. They’ll drive by your house. They’ll send threats in the mail.”
Read’s case has galvanized a cult-like following of people who ardently support her defense’s theory that she was a patsy in a sweeping law enforcement cover-up.
At trial, Read’s lawyers argued that on the night of O’Keefe’s death, Read dropped him off at his police pal Brian Albert’s home in Canton, Mass., where his cop buddies got into an altercation with him, leading to his death.
But prosecutors claim that after a night of bar-hopping, a boozed-up Read dropped O’Keefe off outside Albert’s home, only to mow him down with her Lexus SUV and leave him to die in a snowbank before a storm.
Experts told The Post that Read’s motion to dismiss is “relatively unprecedented” territory because she is asking the judge to rule as if jurors had rendered a verdict on two of the three counts, long after they’d been let go.
“There is no verdict, and [Read’s lawyers are] essentially asking the judge to honor that there really was one on two of the three charges,” Dedham lawyer Mike Thaler previously told The Post. “But a verdict only happens in the courtroom, and there is no longer a case that is pending on trial.”