Watch Live: Karen Read trial jury to hear closing arguments, then begin deliberations

CBS News

13-06-2025

The jury in the Karen Read trial will hear closing arguments Friday morning, the last stage of the case before they begin deliberations at Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts.
You can watch them streaming live, starting at 8:45 a.m. on CBS News Boston in the video above.
Alan Jackson is expected to deliver the closing argument for the defense first and then Hank Brennan will do the same for the prosecution. Judge Beverly Cannone is giving both sides an hour and 15 minutes each to argue their case.
Then, after a lunch break, jurors will be given instructions and Cannone will select a jury foreman. Eighteen jurors were seated during the trial, but only 12 will be allowed to deliberate. The other six will become alternates in a random selection by the court clerk. Cannone wants the jury to start deliberations Friday afternoon.
Closing arguments "almost the whole thing"
WBZ-TV legal analyst Katherine Loftus said closing arguments play a "huge role" in the trial.
"Closing arguments are almost the whole thing. It sounds a little wild to think that you've put all of this evidence in, but lawyering is about the art of persuasion. You have two really, really skilled lawyers here," she said of Brennan and Jackson.
"I think both of them are very good at persuading but in different ways. Their styles are different. Their tones are different."
Karen Read trial jury
The jury heard from 49 witness during 31 days of testimony over eight weeks in Read's second trial.
"I just hope they were listening, that's all I can ask for. They were in the same room I was," Read told reporters outside court on Wednesday after the defense rested its case.
The jury will deliberate in a room with boxes of evidence including books of reports, John O'Keefe's clothes and the taillight from Read's Lexus SUV.
The verdict slip and jury instructions will get extra attention this time, so, unlike in Read's first trial, jurors understand that they can come forward with a split decision to prevent another mistrial.
Karen Read's second trial
Read, 45, is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, by hitting him with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts after a night of heavy drinking in January 2022.
Her attorneys have said she's being framed by law enforcement and that O'Keefe died during a fight inside that home at 34 Fairview Road and was then dragged outside and left in the yard.
But in this trial, they're arguing that the police investigation was so substandard Read can't be found guilty.
"I think it's the smarter and straighter path to a 'not guilty' for them," Loftus said.
Read is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of bodily injury and death. If convicted of second-degree murder, she could face life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Her first trial ended in a mistrial in July 2024 with a "starkly divided" hung jury.
The retrial, which started on April 22, has had no shortage of courtroom drama with combative witnesses, air conditioning issues, an unusual number of sidebars and a jury and a judge who appeared, at times, to be impatient.
The defense called for a mistrial twice this month, but the judge denied both requests.
The jury this time around is much younger and more diverse so many are curious to see how that impacts deliberations.