Watch Live: Karen Read trial jury deliberations enter fourth day
Jurors in the Karen Read trial are deliberating for a fourth day inside Norfolk Superior Court as they attempt to reach a verdict in the high-profile case. The deliberations come a day after the jury indicated in a question to Judge Beverly Cannone that they could be facing the possibility of being a hung jury on one charge.
Around 2 p.m., attorneys were called back into the courtroom, though the reason is not yet known.
You can watch coverage when it begins live on CBS News Boston by clicking on the video player above.
Read is accused of hitting and killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts in January 2022.
The jury took lunch from from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, with no news happening during that time. Jurors had been deliberating for about 19 hours as of the lunch break. They have not asked any questions or sent any communications today.
Cameras were allowed at the start of the day when jurors arrived in the courtroom. When Cannone dismissed jurors to deliberate, the video feed was shut off. It will only return when there is something like a question, procedural matter, a verdict is reached or court is ending for the day around 4 p.m.
Attorneys are required to remain within 10 minutes of the courthouse in Dedham so they can arrive quickly if needed. WBZ-TV anticipates that if a verdict is reached, it will be read within an hour of the announcement.
Karen Read trial deliberations
The judge answered questions for the jury Tuesday about what time of day the operating under the influence (OUI) charge related to, if Read's media interviews are considered evidence, and how the verdict slip worked.
Cannone told jurors for the OUI time, jurors are the fact finders and she did not specify a time. The judge told them they should consider Read's interviews as they do any piece of evidence. The judge also provided an amended verdict slip that she hoped would eliminate confusion.
The fourth question was, "If we find not guilty on two charges but can't agree on one charge, is it a hung jury on all three charges or just one charge?"
Cannone said she could not answer that because the jurors were asking a hypothetical question.
What is Karen Read charged with?
The prosecution says Read hit and killed O'Keefe with her Lexus SUV and left him to die in the snow outside the home of another Boston police officer after a night of heavy drinking in 2022. Read argues she is being framed and O'Keefe was actually killed during a fight inside the home, then dragged outside and left in the yard.
Her first trial in 2024 ended with a mistrial due to a "starkly divided" hung jury.
During arguments over verdict slip confusion, defense attorney Alan Jackson warned Judge Cannone that the second trial could end in a similar way.
"We are going to end up in the exact same position that we were in last year," Jackson told the judge during the tense exchange Tuesday.
Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene where there has been personal injury and death.
