Latest news with #defenseteam
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Trump's alleged would-be assassin Ryan Routh moves to FIRE his defense team
Trump's alleged near-assassin Ryan Routh is trying to dump his federal defense team according to a new court filing. 'Ryan Routh respectfully requests the Court set a hearing to terminate the representation of his appointed counsel and their office,' the document filed in Florida federal court states. This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Yahoo
Crowd Outside MA Courtroom Erupts as Karen Read Found Not Guilty of Murder
Crowd Outside MA Courtroom Erupts as Karen Read Found Not Guilty of Murder originally appeared on L.A. Mag. After two emotionally wrought trials that divided a nation, Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman whose defense team had long argued was the victim of a shoddy police investigation and corrupt cops, was found not guilty of murder Wednesday. Read, 45, who is more than a million dollars in debt to her high-powered defense team - which included Los Angeles heavy hitters Alan Jackson and Elizabeth "Liza: Little - along with Robert Alessi of New York and former Boston prosecutor David Yanetti, who left the courtroom in tears after the verdict was read, will serve one year probation after the jury found her guilty of "No one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have," Read told throngs outside the courthouse who erupted in cheers as she emerged after being acquitted of the most serious charges. O'Keefe, a beloved Boston police officer who was raising his niece and nephew, was found dead in a snowbank outside the home of a fellow Boston cop on Jan. 29, 2022. She was flanked by her attorneys, who were praised by her father William, who has been in court daily with Read's mother Janet. "I want to acknowledge the strength of my daughter Karen," he told the crowd, before lauding what he called "the greatest team of attorneys," adding, "We needed them all to defeat Bless you all!" The verdict came after a chaotic hour in the courtroom where jurors said they had reached a verdict Wednesday afternoon, but then retracted that statement moments later, according to Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone. "So we do not have a verdict, because as we all know, there is no verdict until it is announced in court," she later, the clerk was handed a manila envelope. The extended family of homeowner Brian Albert, the now-retired Boston Police Sergeant who was hosting an afterparty at 34 Fairview Avenue in Canton, Mass. where O'Keefe's body was recovered, released a statement. Albert was not called as a witness in Read's eight-week retrial, but his sister-in-law Jen McCabe took the stand and his family was subjected to endless taunts from Read supporters. "Today our hearts are with John and with the entire O'Keefe family. "Lies and conspiracy theories," they wrote, tainted the jury. This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Karen Read's defense makes last-minute request as jury deliberates on murder charges for a second time
Attorneys representing Karen Read filed a last-minute motion to avoid a second deadlock as the jury in her murder trial begins to deliberate - but it was quickly denied by the judge. The former adjunct college professor is accused of drunkenly ramming her SUV into her boyfriend former Boston police officer John O'Keefe and leaving him to die in blizzard conditions on January 29, 2022. She is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of a collision causing death. Read, 45, previously faced the charges at a trial last year. But after five days of deliberations, Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial as the jurors remained split on whether she intentionally killed her boyfriend. In order to avoid that from happening again, Read's defense team filed a motion on Monday to amend the verdict slip - which they called 'unclear and otherwise confusing.' They claimed jurors can only see a 'not guilty' option on the drunk driving manslaughter charge - rather than four guilty options on lesser charges including involuntary manslaughter and drunk driving, according to CBS News. 'Respectfully, the present verdict slip is unclear and otherwise confusing,' the defense attorneys wrote in the motion. 'This lack of clarity and reluctant risk of confusion and error can easily be minimized by tailoring and clarifying the verdict slip to better aid the jury in memorializing the verdict,' they argued. 'Indeed, there is no compelling reason not to do so.' They add that the way the 'imbalanced presentation visually favors the guilty options and risks creating bias towards a guilty verdict in degradation of Ms. Read's rights, in addition to creating the risks of confusion and errors.' Their amended slip, they noted, only 'presents formatting changes, not substantive changes.' But Cannone denied the motion as jurors began their first full day of deliberations, ruling that the current verdict slip 'is consistent with Massachusetts law and is to [be] viewed in conjunction with the jury instructions. 'A copy of the jury instructions was sent to the jury with the verdict slip on Friday,' she wrote. Speaking outside of the courthouse following the ruling, Read told reporters about her concerns with the verdict slip. 'I think what happened last year with the same verdict form explains that the jurors themselves found it confusing and have said as much,' she argued. 'So we just wanted to avoid that again and apparently the court is not concerned, so we'll just move forward and wait on the jury.' When she was then asked how she is feeling about the pending verdict, Read said: 'I feel well, I feel strong and the jury will do the right thing.' Read (pictured) has long maintained her innocence and insisted that she was framed by his police officer friends Read has long maintained her innocence and insisted that she was framed by his police officer friends. Read's attorneys have portrayed her as the victim, saying O'Keefe was actually killed inside Albert's home and then dragged outside. They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a 'convenient outsider' who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects. But prosecutors noted that O'Keefe and Read had been drinking with a group of friends at the Waterfall Bar and Grill in Canton - about 14 miles south of Boston, when they were invited to Albert's home for an afterparty. Read has even admitted to having several alcoholic drinks beforehand, but said she decided to drop her boyfriend at the afterparty before she returned to his house. The couple had been dating for two years at the time of O'Keefe's death. He had been serving on the Boston Police Department for 16 years. According to Read's version of events, she woke up at 4am to find that O'Keefe never returned home, leading her to frantically drive out to try and find him. After finding O'Keefe's body outside Albert's home, which party attendees claimed he never entered, first responders on the scene alleged that Read repeatedly told them she hit him while in a panicked state. O'Keefe's cause of death was ultimately listed as blunt force trauma and hypothermia after police say he was left outside in a blizzard. At the center of Read's defense has been claims that the investigation was inappropriately handled by dishonorably discharged State Trooper Michael Proctor, who sent vulgar text messages about Read. He was fired over texts that included calling Read a 'whack job' and a 'c***.' In other messages, he joked about rummaging through her phone for nude photos during the investigation, and remarked that she had 'no a**.' In his closing arguments on Friday, defense attorney Alan Jackson once again hit out at Proctor, arguing that the prosecution could only feign a case because 'their investigation was flawed from the start because their investigator was corrupted from the start by bias, personal loyalties,' according to the Boston Herald. He also argued that experts agree 'there was no collision,' and concluded by saying 'reasonable doubt abounds.' Supporters signal to Read, as the jury deliberated on Monday But prosecutor Hank Brennan said the story of how O'Keefe died is 'simple.' 'Ms. Read was with Mr. O'Keefe and she got drunk. She drank. She was two to three times over the legal limit and they went to a party, an afterparty and they were fighting. '...She got drunk, she hit him, she left him to die. It's that simple.' Yet jurors still had not reached a verdict by the end of the day on Monday, when Judge Cannone told them to clear their heads before they come back on Tuesday. Meanwhile, outside, massive crowds came out to support Read and watched trial coverage on their phones. They donned pink shirts and signed 'I love you' as the suspect walked past.
Fox News
01-06-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Karen Read sells home and taps retirement fund to pay mounting legal bills in murder retrial
As murder defendant Karen Read rounds the corner on the halfway point of her second trial, the crippling weight of unpaid legal bills could be alleviated by an unlikely source: online crowdfunding. Months before her retrial was set to begin, Read told Vanity Fair she owes her defense team over $5 million in legal fees – a total that is likely growing with the addition of two new attorneys. "Other than feeling wrongfully persecuted and prosecuted, I feel incredibly violated," Read said in the Vanity Fair interview, adding, "If I can get the entire truth of this case out in the public forum, that, to me, is priceless." Read pleaded not guilty and is facing the possibility of life in prison for the alleged murder of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe. She is accused of ramming O'Keefe with her vehicle during a drunken argument before leaving him to freeze to death in the front yard of a fellow police officer's home in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2022. Read's defense team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Last year, Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict, setting the stage for a costly redo for Read. Since her first trial, Read's defense team has introduced two new players, with attorneys Robert Alessi and Victoria George joining Alan Jackson, David Yannetti and Elizabeth Little. To help subsidize her expenses, Read reportedly sold her Mansfield home for $810,000 in November 2024 and is living off of her 401(k) retirement fund after losing her jobs as a Bentley University finance professor and Fidelity Investments equities analyst following her arrest. In addition to turning to her equity, numerous crowdfunding sites have been kick-started to help Read chip away at her legal fees – a common tactic used in high-profile court cases where bills could rise into the seven figures. "There are many examples of high-profile defendants paying out-of-pocket for their defense," criminal defense attorney Andrew Stoltmann told Fox News Digital. "O.J. Simpson is the classic example. But it is surprising when high-profile, non-wealthy individuals pay out-of-pocket for their entire defense." A Justice for Karen Read legal defense fund, organized by Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP, is closing in on $1 million raised, with donations continuing to pour in as Read's second trial wraps up its fourth week. "Keep fighting," one anonymous donor wrote. "I believe in Karen's innocence and grateful she has an amazing team defending her." Werksman Jackson & Quinn did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Additionally, the Free Karen Read Movement has launched a website selling sweatshirts, T-shirts and other apparel in support of Read, while advocating for her innocence. Earlier this month, supporters hosted a ticketed dinner party in a nearby town to raise money for Read. Seats were priced at $100 and included a live DJ, raffle and cash bar. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB The event organizers did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. While turning to public methods as a way to bankroll legal funds increases, experts caution the charity could come with strings attached. "A third-party funding source is both a blessing and a curse," Stoltmann said. "They can provide necessary funds to put on a top-flight defense, but they also tend to have a disproportionate amount of sway with the attorneys since the bills are being paid by the third party. It's an ethical quagmire for the attorneys on cases." Read's defense team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on whether she plans to accept the funds. In light of the hefty price tag for legal representation, it is not uncommon for attorneys to take on high-profile cases for a reduced rate in exchange for publicity. SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER "Many criminal defense lawyers will take a case pro bono or at a severely discounted rate if it's a high-profile case and there's a great deal of news and television coverage," Stoltmann told Fox News Digital. "This often leads to a tsunami of new clients coming in the door for years after the trial takes place. This might be what's happening in Karen Read's case." While Read's fate remains in the hands of the jury, her chance to maintain her freedom – and clear her name – continues to come at an incredibly high cost. "I'm not backing down now," Read told Vanity Fair. "As scary as a potential conviction is, I will go to jail for something I didn't do before I plea out. I will never give them that win."
