Latest news with #TheNightoftheNor'easter
The Intercept
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Intercept
Why Did NBC Delete Its 'Dateline' Episode on Diddy?
On May 11, NBC premiered a 'Dateline' episode describing Combs's various past legal entanglements. Less than a month later, the episode has now disappeared both from NBC's website as well as from Peacock, NBC's streaming service. The removal comes as NBC and Peacock face a defamation lawsuit from Combs over a separate news documentary. The Dateline episode, titled 'Sean Combs on Trial,' has been entirely wiped from the networks' official streaming platforms, with only promotional materials remaining scattered online, such as a trailer, a publicity piece, and official social media posts. The episode's logline described it as a 'report on Sean 'Diddy' Combs' life.' The show summarizes Combs's rise to fame and his litany of past legal troubles, culminating with the present trial over charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges and rejected a plea deal. An NBC spokesperson told The Intercept that once the trial began on May 12, the 'Dateline' episode that aired the previous day had become outdated. NBC would not elaborate on which specific portions of the episode had become outdated and warranted the episode being taken down, since the bulk of the program is not about the current trial. Only the first three and last seven minutes of the 41-minute episode focus on Combs's present indictment. NBC also declined to comment on whether or how often Dateline episodes removes episodes because they have become outdated, and what criteria is used before scrubbing a show from NBC's platforms. 'Dateline' episodes that air before trials don't always appear to be removed from the program's official streaming portals. For instance, the fourth episode of the show's current 33rd season, 'The Night of the Nor'easter,' focuses on Karen Read, who stands accused of killing her boyfriend. The episode originally premiered on October 18, 2024 — some three months after Read's initial trial was declared a mistrial; a retrial began in April 2025. Although Read's second trial is presently ongoing, the original 'Dateline' episode remains online despite presenting now outdated information. For instance, the episode mentions that Read's lawyers are appealing a judge's decision to reject their attempt to dismiss several of the charges. The appeal was denied in February 2025, four months after the 'Dateline' episode aired. The 'Dateline' episode that aired two days before the Combs episode, 'The Terrible Night on King Road,' also discusses an upcoming trial. Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of the killings of four University of Idaho students, is scheduled to stand trial in August. The episode remains online on Peacock, although there have been new developments since the episode aired. The case judge issued a document hold order, as the episode contained nonpublic information about the case that the judge believes someone either in law enforcement or on the prosecution team provided Dateline with. Kohberger's attorneys also requested a delay in the trial, citing the 'Dateline' episode. In February, Combs filed a lawsuit against NBC and Peacock, seeking a minimum of $100 million in damages owing to allegedly false and defamatory statements against Combs in another NBC documentary, 'Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.' The complaint was filed three months before the Dateline 'Sean Combs on Trial' episode aired. NBC would not comment on the record about whether the removal of the Dateline episode was related to the defamation lawsuit. Combs's lawyers did not respond to a request for a comment. Dateline continues to host a daily podcast about the trial. NBC has also joined a number of other media outlets in asking the court to allow cameras inside the courtroom. The Combs defamation suit against NBC comes amid a sweep of prominent public figures filing cases against the media. Kash Patel, who was selected by Trump to be the reigning FBI director, previously sued CNN for defamation for claiming that he spread conspiracy theories about then-President Joe Biden. That defamation suit was dismissed, though Patel is now filing a new defamation suit, this time against MSNBC over reporting on the amount of time he allegedly spent at nightclubs. Trump has recently announced that he is suing CBS for defamation, though the threatened lawsuit doesn't appear to have come to fruition as of yet. Parent company Paramount has also reportedly offered $15 million to settle another suit by Trump against CBS for allegedly deceptive editing practices. In court on Tuesday, meanwhile, one of Combs's exes testified that 'Dateline' is Combs's favorite TV show.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Karen Read murder trial: Defense lawyers rest their case
Lawyers for Karen Read rested their case Wednesday, nearly two weeks after they began mounting a defense that sought to undermine allegations that she drunkenly backed her SUV into her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, and left him for dead three years ago. The case, which prompted intense media coverage and allegations of law enforcement misconduct that led to the firing of the case's lead investigator, could be with the jury in Dedham, Massachusetts, by the end of the week. Read's sensational first trial ended nearly one year ago with a jury unable to reach a unanimous verdict on charges of second-degree murder and other crimes in connection with the Jan. 29, 2022, death of John O'Keefe. The defense did not call key figures central to the theory it laid out in those initial proceedings — that Read was the victim of a biased police investigation and a plot that sought to frame her for the killing — and opted instead for a series of experts whose testimony sought to dismantle the prosecution's evidence. What to know about Karen Read's murder retrial in the death of her police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe Three things to know about the prosecution's case Defense team goes after cellphone data and a key witness prosecutors are relying on As retrial zeroed in on a possible murder weapon, an expert's credibility was challenged Family of Read's boyfriend says she put them 'through hell' but they're ready for second trial Messy investigation exposes problems with police work that public rarely sees, experts say Read's defense in the first trial How to watch the 'Dateline' episode 'The Night of the Nor'easter' Among them were three crash reconstruction specialists and two pathologists. Also called to the witness stand was a snowplow driver who offered what was perhaps the defense's most direct challenge to the case Norfolk County special prosecutor Hank Brennan had presented. Blizzardlike conditions descended on the Boston area on Jan. 29, and the driver, Brian Loughran, testified that before the snow grew heavy, he made multiple passes on the residential street in Canton where O'Keefe was found unresponsive. O'Keefe was discovered near a flagpole in the front yard of a now-retired Boston police sergeant, Brian Albert, shortly after 6 a.m. — a little over three hours after, Loughran said, he first passed the home in his plow, nicknamed 'Frankentruck' for what he described as its mismatch of parts. Loughran said he knew the Albert family — he used to deliver pizzas for Brian Albert's brother — and he testified that he could clearly see from his truck to Albert's front door. 'What was on the ground in the area of the flagpole?' defense attorney David Yanetti asked. 'Nothing,' Loughran responded. 'Did you see a 6-foot-1, 216-pound man lying on that lawn?' Yanetti asked. 'No,' Loughran said. After a night of drinking, O'Keefe was supposed to have gone to a gathering at Albert's home early Jan. 29. Brennan has said he never made it inside. Although prosecutors presented no direct evidence of the collision that they said mortally wounded O'Keefe, vehicle data presented at trial showed Read suddenly reversing her Lexus at 12:32 a.m. at 24 mph in front of Albert's home. An accident reconstruction expert called by Brennan testified that dozens of abrasions found on O'Keefe's right arm were consistent with injuries caused by the broken right taillight on Read's SUV. Read has said she dropped O'Keefe off outside Albert's home and watched him enter. Her lawyers have said he was most likely beaten at the gathering — perhaps because she had recently flirted with, then ghosted, a federal agent who was also at the event — before O'Keefe was bitten by Albert's German shepherd, dragged outside and left in the snow. (Albert and the agent, Brian Higgins, have denied playing roles in O'Keefe's death.) One of the defense witnesses, a former emergency room doctor and forensic pathologist who said she had seen hundreds of dog bites in her career, testified that the dozens of abrasions on O'Keefe's arm were not from a broken taillight but from a dog. The defense's final witness, a biomedical engineer who examined whether O'Keefe's injuries were the result of a collision, testified Wednesday that they were not. Experiments conducted for the case using crash test dummies showed that at speeds of 24 mph, there most likely would have been more damage to Read's car and to O'Keefe's arm, said the engineer, Andrew Rentschler. Absent from the witness stand were three people whose testimony played an outsized role in the first trial: Albert, Higgins and former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor. Proctor, who was fired after an internal investigation found that he sent derogatory texts about Read and shared confidential investigative details with non-law enforcement personnel, acknowledged during the first trial that he said 'unprofessional' things about Read. But he rejected the defense's claims that he led a biased investigation. The defense mentioned Proctor repeatedly during Read's retrial, with defense attorney Alan Jackson at one point asking his supervisor whether his conduct tainted their examination of O'Keefe's death. 'The investigation was done with honor and integrity, and the evidence pointed in one direction,' State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik responded. This article was originally published on
USA Today
23-04-2025
- USA Today
Karen Read trial: Here's a list of podcasts, movies, shows on the death of John O'Keefe
Karen Read trial: Here's a list of podcasts, movies, shows on the death of John O'Keefe Show Caption Hide Caption John O'Keefe's family files wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Boston police officer John O'Keefe accuses Karen Read of knowingly hitting O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die. Scripps News The case of Karen Read captivated the nation during her first trial last year, where she was accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, in 2022. After a hung jury was declared in July 2024, Read's case will head back to court this week for her second trial. Read has been vocal in denying the charges against her in a slew of media interviews, including a recently released docuseries on Investigation Discovery. As eyes shift back to this case, here's a list of shows, articles and podcasts you can catch up on everything that has happened so far. Karen Read case: Catch up with 'A Body in the Snow' documentary A multi-part docuseries following Read's first trial, "A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read," was released by Investigation Discovery earlier this month. It offers a comprehensive look at the case from Read herself, who is interviewed throughout the series. "Doing this film is my testimony," she said in the trailer. "I want to say what happened exactly as it happened." "A Body in the Snow" is available to stream free for Max subscribers. More: New Karen Read doc shows behind-the-scenes first trial. How to watch 'A Body in the Snow' 'Dateline,' '20/20' episodes on death of John O'Keefe NBC's "Dateline" and ABC's "20/20" have also covered the case. In October 2024, "Dateline" released "The Night of the Nor'easter," an episode featuring interviews with Read, her attorneys and even a member of the extended O'Keefe family. It is available to stream on Peacock. The month before that, "20/20" aired its episode "Karen Read: The Perfect Storm," including interviews with many people close to the case, like Read and several members of the O'Keefe family. It is available to stream on ABC or Hulu. More: 'Night of the Nor easter': How to watch Dateline's episode featuring Karen Read interview Other TV interviews on Karen Read case Local Boston television stations have also added their fair share of coverage to the case. Boston 25 News released a two-part extended interview with Karen Read last month, which is available to watch on YouTube. On the other side of the case, John O'Keefe's brother Paul O'Keefe spoke out in interviews with CBS Boston and WCVB last year. The wife and sister of Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the case, broke their silence in an interview with WCVB earlier this month. Read about the Karen Read case: Vanity Fair, Patriot Ledger articles The Read case has been recounted in print as well. She gave an extensive, two-part interview to Vanity Fair last year. The Patriot Ledger is also continuing to cover the trial. The latest stories can be found below. Podcasts to listen to about Karen Read case The popular true-crime podcast "Crime Junkie" just released an episode about the O'Keefe case, which is available to listen to on its website or podcast streaming platforms. "Crime Junkie" will also be covering the second trial on YouTube. The "13th Juror" podcast also covered the case in its series, "Conspiracy in Canton," which can be streamed on YouTube. NBC10 Boston also has a daily podcast that follows the case — "Canton Confidential" is available to stream online. Melina Khan is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY Network - New England, which serves more than a dozen affiliated publications across New England. She can be reached at MKhan@
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
With a jury now in place, the heart of Karen Read's retrial is set to begin
After three weeks of jury selection, a panel of nine men and nine women has been seated in the murder retrial of Karen Read. Read, whose trial in the death of her police officer boyfriend exposed allegations of law enforcement misconduct, returned to court in suburban Boston this month to be retried on charges of second-degree murder and other crimes. Read's widely publicized first trial ended with a hung jury last summer. The heart of the trial is set to begin Tuesday with opening statements. Here are key dates in the case. John O'Keefe, a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, was found unresponsive in the yard of a now-retired Boston police sergeant, Brian Albert. O'Keefe, 46, was pronounced dead shortly afterward, and a medical examiner attributed his death to hypothermia and blunt-force trauma to the head. The night before, the couple had been drinking with other law enforcement officers in Canton, just south of Boston, before they drove to an afterparty at Albert's home. What followed was not captured on video, and no witnesses have claimed to have seen what led to O'Keefe's death. But lawyers for Read, an equity analyst who'd been together with O'Keefe for two years, later said she dropped him off at Albert's home and watched him go inside. Read's defense team said that hours later, after she discovered that her boyfriend never came home, she went out looking for him and, eventually, discovered his body in the snow outside Albert's home. In court, Albert denied that O'Keefe ever entered his home. And after Read was arrested on charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing death, prosecutors painted a different picture of what investigators believe happened. Fired investigator Michael Proctor to loom over retrial The family of Karen Read's boyfriend says she put them 'through hell,' but they're ready for second trial Messy investigation exposes problems with police work that public rarely sees, experts say Karen Read's defense in the first trial How to watch the Dateline episode "The Night of the Nor'easter" When Read's trial got underway last April, the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office described a relationship in shambles and a drunken defendant so furious with her partner that she backed into him with her Lexus SUV and left him for dead. Adam Lally, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, pointed to vehicle data that captured Read reversing her Lexus for 60 feet at 24 mph outside Albert's home and forensic testing that showed O'Keefe's hair found on the vehicle's bumper. Also found on the vehicle's bumper were the remnants of a drink — O'Keefe was seen leaving a bar that night with a cocktail in hand — and bits of a drinking glass, Lally said. Read's defense team was allowed to make a third-party culprit defense, permitting it to call witnesses and present evidence supporting an alternative theory of O'Keefe's death. According to that theory, O'Keefe was fatally beaten and bitten by a dog in Albert's home. Her legal team alleged that Read was framed by Albert and another person who'd been at the party — an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who'd traded flirtatious texts with Read before, the defense said, she ghosted him. (Albert testified that O'Keefe never entered his home but that he would have been welcomed with "open arms" if he had.) The defense also accused the lead investigator in the case, former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, of manipulating evidence, failing to properly examine the case and leading a biased investigation. Among the evidence introduced were text messages that showed Proctor using derogatory language to describe Read to friends, family members and supervisors. At one point, Proctor said he hoped Read would take her own life. Proctor acknowledged making unprofessional comments about Read and sharing details of the investigation with his sister, who was close friends with Albert's sister-in-law, but he said he provided only 'newsworthy stuff,' and he denied that his conduct compromised the integrity of the investigation. After a nine-week trial and five days of deliberations, Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial when jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. The Norfolk County district attorney vowed to retry the case and appointed Hank Brennan, a former prosecutor and longtime criminal defense lawyer who previously represented Boston gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger, to be lead prosecutor. The defense sought to have the crimes dismissed, alleging 'extraordinary governmental misconduct' and saying that retrying her for two of the charges, including murder, amounted to double jeopardy. The lawyers made the second claim after, they said, two jurors came forward after the trial and said the panel would have acquitted Read of those crimes. Judges in superior and federal court denied both claims. A trial board with the Massachusetts State Police fired Proctor after it determined he violated agency rules by sending derogatory texts about Read and shared confidential investigative details with non-law enforcement personnel. The panel also found that he drank alcohol on duty and drove his cruiser afterward. Proctor has not publicly commented on his termination. His family said they were 'truly disappointed' with the board's decision, which they said 'unfairly exploits and scapegoats one of their own, a trooper with a 12-year unblemished record.' 'Despite the Massachusetts State Police's dubious and relentless efforts to find more inculpatory evidence against Michael Proctor on his phones, computers and cruiser data, the messages on his personal phone — referring to the person who killed a fellow beloved Boston Police Officer — are all that they found,' the family said in a statement. 'The messages prove one thing, and that Michael is human — not corrupt, not incompetent in his role as a homicide detective, and certainly not unfit to continue to be a Massachusetts State Trooper,' the statement added. It isn't clear what role Proctor will play in the retrial, and legal experts told NBC News that his presence is likely to loom over the proceedings. Jury selection began in Read's retrial in a Norfolk County courtroom, with prosecutors and defense lawyers questioning hundreds of potential jurors. After three weeks of screening jurors, the panel was seated. The 18 jurors include six alternates. Opening statements are expected to start in the Massachusetts courtroom Tuesday. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Karen Read murder case: Fired investigator Michael Proctor to loom over retrial as jury selection begins
Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman whose sensational murder trial ended with a hung jury last year, is set to return to court this week as prosecutors again try to convict her in the 2022 killing of her boyfriend, a veteran Boston police officer. But the lead investigator in the case, Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, was fired last month over allegations that he had disparaged Read and shared confidential investigative details, and legal experts say that Proctor will likely loom over the proceedings when they get underway Tuesday. 'I suspect that Michael Proctor — and the state police investigation in general — will be the elephant in the courtroom throughout the trial,' said Daniel Medwed, a professor of law and criminal justice at Northeastern University in to know about Karen Read's murder retrial in the death of her police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe Family of Karen Read's boyfriend says she put them 'through hell,' but they're ready for second trial Messy investigation exposes problems with police work that public rarely sees, experts say Karen Read's defense in the first trial How to watch the Dateline episode 'The Night of the Nor'easter' 'At the time of his original testimony, he still had a job to rein him in,' said Stara Roemer, a former Dallas County prosecutor who is now a criminal defense lawyer in Texas. 'Now that he no longer has that job, who knows what could come out of his mouth.' 'This is a case that was already on the edge,' said criminal defense lawyer and NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos. 'You've now deleted the lead investigator.' Proctor led the investigation into the Jan. 29, 2022, death of John O'Keefe, who was found unresponsive in the yard of a then-Boston police sergeant in Canton, south of Boston. During the first trial, Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally alleged that Read — furious over her deteriorating relationship with O'Keefe — drunkenly backed her Lexus SUV into him and left him for dead outside the sergeant's home. Read was charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing death. She denies the allegations, and at her 2024 trial, her defense team alleged that she was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy that involved other law enforcement officers. Her lawyers alleged that O'Keefe was fatally beaten during an afterparty at the home of Brian Albert, and that he and others who were at the gathering framed Read for the killing. (Albert was not charged with any crimes, and he testified that O'Keefe never came inside his home.) The defense accused Proctor of manipulating evidence and leading a biased investigation. They pointed to text messages he sent to friends, relatives and supervisors in which he used offensive and vulgar language to describe Read. In one message to his sister, Proctor said he hoped Read died by suicide. The defense also pointed to Proctor's undisclosed ties to Albert and his family, and to investigative details Proctor shared with his sister, who was close friends with Albert's sister-in-law. In testimony, Proctor acknowledged that his comments were unprofessional and 'dehumanized' Read. He admitted to discussing the case with his sister, but said he made her aware only of 'newsworthy stuff.' Proctor testified that his conduct did not compromise the integrity of the investigation. After a jury failed to reach a verdict and a judge declared a mistrial, the Massachusetts State Police suspended Proctor without pay and launched an internal affairs investigation into allegations raised at trial that the agency described as 'serious misconduct.' Proctor was dishonorably discharged in March after a state police trial board found that he had violated agency rules when he sent derogatory messages and shared sensitive and confidential details with non-law enforcement personnel. The board also found that Proctor drank alcohol while on duty and drove his cruiser afterward. Proctor has not publicly commented on his termination, but his family said they were 'truly disappointed' with the board's decision, which they said 'unfairly exploits and scapegoats one of their own, a trooper with a 12-year unblemished record.' It's unclear what role Proctor will play in the second trial. He's included on a possible witness list that Read's attorneys filed earlier this year, and he will likely be used to bolster the same defense the lawyers made last year, said Medwed, of Northeastern. 'The defense, as in the first trial, will likely emphasize the shoddiness of the investigation to try to create reasonable doubt, and Proctor's dismissal will help that effort,' he said. Hank Brennan, the special prosecutor appointed to retry the case, may not need the former trooper's testimony about the investigation, said Romer, the former prosecutor. Brennan can likely establish those facts through other investigators, she said. Brennan could argue that Proctor's termination could confuse or mislead the jury and should be excluded from trial, Romer said. In her view, the wiser approach would be to address the issues surrounding Proctor head-on. 'The smart move for someone like Brennan in this situation is to get it all out on direct because it is much more powerful in front of a jury in terms of questioning that person's credibility,' said Romer, referring to the prosecution's direct examination. 'If it comes out on cross-examination, it'll seem like the state was hiding something.' But Cevallos, the legal analyst, said that calling Proctor could be tricky for the prosecution. 'He's lost everything,' Cevallos said. 'Think he'll be willing to help?' If subpoenaed, Cevallos said, Proctor may come across as a reluctant witness — someone who doesn't refuse to testify but provides the kinds of answers that defense attorneys often hear when questioning law enforcement officers. 'With the government, they're very helpful,' he said. 'When I do it, they lapse into, 'yes, no, yes, no.' That's the way the game is played.' To Romer, the trajectory of Read's case is highly unusual. To have the lead investigator in a criminal case fired between trials just doesn't happen, she said. But, the most unusual thing is that the public knows anything at all about Proctor's 'unprofessional' comments, she said. 'Stuff like this happens all the time,' she said. 'If you've ever had a conversation with a police officer, they talk about their cases and reveal information that they shouldn't. It's just, normally people don't see it.' This article was originally published on
