A Massachusetts judge abruptly suspended a hearing ahead of Karen Read’s re-trial for the alleged murder of her cop boyfriend after prosecutors claimed two expert witnesses in the first trial had been paid more than $20,000 by Read’s defense team.
Judge Beverly Cannone said new information presented Tuesday by prosecutor Hank Brennan caused her “grave concern” that would impact the re-trial in the case involving the 2022 death of Read’s boyfriend, Boston cop John O’Keefe, WCVB reported.
Earlier in the hearing, Brennan asked that two accident reconstruction experts who testified in Read’s first trial be barred from returning. According to Brennan, the experts had been hired by federal investigators, had undisclosed communications with Read’s defense team, and had been paid $23,000.
Brennan read examples of some of the communications between the experts, who work for the “multidisciplinary engineering consulting firm” ARCCA LLC.
In one set of messages, the ARCCA witness praised the defense for its questioning and provided an outline of questions and answers to use during direct examination.
Prosecutors have accused Read of hitting O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow in January 2022.
She has maintained her innocence, with her defense arguing that O’Keefe wasn’t killed by Read — but was beaten to death by his cop buddies during a drunken brawl, and left in the snow with Read being made the scapegoat.
Brennan, the prosecutor, specifically mentioned testimony from ARCCA employee Daniel Wolfe, who said during Read’s first trial that he and his colleagues found the damage to Read’s SUV was not consistent with a pedestrian being struck.
“That’s getting duped. So, I didn’t know any of this, but I’ve tried a few cases. I’ve been around the federal court a little bit. I know how it works,” Brennan said Tuesday, later adding, “I don’t care if the ARCCA witnesses testified at trial. I don’t care about their opinions, but I care that it’s unfair, imbalanced and hidden.”
After Brennan concluded his remarks, Cannone called for a recess. When she returned, she suspended the hearing, telling the court, “The commonwealth just provided the court with information that causes me grave concern.”
She continued: “The implications of that information may have profound effects on this defense and defense counsel. So for that reason, I’m going to suspend today so that when we meet again to address these issues, all affected will be appropriately prepared.”
Outside the courtroom, Read’s attorney Alan Jackson denied paying the experts to testify, TMZ reported.
A new hearing to discuss the issue has been scheduled for Feb. 25.
