Karen Reed’s lawyers, who heard a fourth juror testify that the jury unanimously acquitted her of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, argue the mistrial came at a “moment of great confusion.”
“Juror D told me he contacted me because he felt ‘uncomfortable’ with the way the trial ended,” Reed’s attorney, Alan Jackson, wrote in court documents filed Wednesday, arguing the juror told his client they agreed to find him not guilty of the first charge of second-degree murder and the third charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
“The only disagreement was on the second charge and that lesser charge,” Jackson continued, referring to the charge of DUI manslaughter.
“Juror D explained that the juror had in fact discussed telling the judge that they unanimously agreed to a not guilty verdict on counts one and three, but was not sure whether they would be permitted to do so,” the filing states.
This latest assertion directly contradicts notes the jury foreman sent to Judge Beverley Cannon, including a final message on July 1 saying the jurors disagreed as a result of “deeply held beliefs.”
“The great division of opinion is not the result of lack of effort or diligence, but rather a sincere adherence to our personal beliefs and moral standards,” the jury foreman said, urging the judge not to force the jurors to compromise their beliefs about the case.
The judge then declared a mistrial. The judge had previously read the jury special instructions that were to be given if they could not reach an agreement.
The Norfolk County District Attorney said July 1 that he would seek a retrial of the case.
Jackson filed court documents Monday alleging that three jurors told him all 12 of them were not guilty of murdering Reed. Jackson asked that the charge be dismissed. Wednesday’s documents about the fourth juror were added as an addendum to the original motion.
In it, Jackson claimed he was “deeply uncomfortable” that a mistrial had been declared because jurors were never asked to give their opinion on each charge.
“Would anyone know that we acquitted him of the first and third charges? Nobody asked about those charges,” Jackson said the juror told him.
“That just didn’t seem right,” the juror reportedly said. “We would all agree and acknowledge that. [Karen Read] I am not guilty of counts one and three, because that is what happened.”
Mr Jackson said jurors felt it was “unfair” to try Reid on murder and manslaughter charges given that the verdicts were reached but not made public in court.
Reed is accused of killing her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, by running him over with her car while drunk on the night of January 29, 2022, and leaving him in the snow outside the home of a police officer friend.
Throughout the two-month trial, in which 74 witnesses were called, Reed’s defense argued that she was framed by O’Keefe’s fellow officers and that she actually beat him, leaving him to die in the snow.
If convicted of murder, she faces life in prison.
