Karen Reed, a Massachusetts woman accused of killing her police officer boyfriend with her car in January 2022, was back in court Friday for a hearing to argue her defense’s motion to dismiss.
Her lawyers, Alan Jackson and David Yannetti, argued that two of the three charges brought against Reed, 44, including second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, should be dismissed following his acquittal in June.
Her lawyers told Judge Beverly J. Cannon that jurors reportedly agreed Reed was not guilty of both charges and that a retrial would subject her to “double jeopardy.”
Prosecutors plan to retry Reed in January. Judge Canone heard arguments from both sides and said Friday he would consider the case but would not rule on it.
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Karen Reed leaves Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Reed, who was accused of killing her Boston Police Department officer boyfriend with her car in January 2022, was back in court Friday for a hearing to argue her defense’s motion to dismiss. (Patriot Pix/BackGrid, courtesy of Fox News Digital)
Karen Reed leaves Norfolk Superior Court on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts. (Patriot Pix/BackGrid, courtesy of Fox News Digital)
Reed arrived at Norfolk County Superior Court. Dedham, MassachusettsShe was surrounded by conflicting onlookers on Friday afternoon: those cheering her on, holding signs that read “Free Karen” and “Framed for a crime,” and those who repeatedly yelled “cop killer” as she walked up the courthouse steps.
Jackson and Yannetti argued at their trial in June that the accusation that Reed killed her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, was part of an elaborate cover-up and entrapment.
After a weeks-long trial and 26 hours of deliberation, the Norfolk County jury could not reach a consensus and Judge Cannone declared a mistrial on July 1.
At trial, the prosecution argued that after drinking alcohol on the night of January 28, 2022, an argument broke out between O’Keefe and Reed, a financial analyst, which led to Reed rear-ending O’Keefe with his SUV, resulting in a fatal accident. The prosecution further alleged that Reed left his girlfriend for dead in front of a home in Canton in the midst of a northeasterly wind.
Karen Reed leaves Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Reed, who was accused of killing her boyfriend, a Boston Police Department officer, with her car in January 2022, was back in court Friday for a hearing to argue her defense’s motion to dismiss. (Patriot Pix/BackGrid, courtesy of Fox News Digital)
Karen Reed smiles as her attorney, David Yannetti, speaks to reporters outside Norfolk Superior Court after the judge declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict in the two-month trial, Monday, July 1, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Stephen Sene)
Authorities found his body in Law Enforcement And the prosecutor.
Karen Reed murder case ends with ‘deeply divided’ jury verdict
The question remains: Who killed John O’Keefe?
Reed’s defense argued that the family of the homeowner where O’Keefe was found dead in the snow on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, framed her for Reed’s death in an elaborate cover-up.
Karen Reed smiles during a news conference outside Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Monday, July 1, 2024. The judge issued a mistrial after jurors could not agree on a conviction in the case of Reed, who was accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by running him over with an SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm. (AP Photo/Stephen Sene)
Karen A. Reed, the girlfriend of the late Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, was charged in Norfolk Superior Court with second-degree murder in the officer’s death in Dedham, Massachusetts, on June 10, 2022. The defense presented the prosecution with a photograph showing the couple together. (John Trumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The case has sparked controversy between Boston-area residents who believe Reed is responsible for O’Keefe’s death and those who believe he is innocent.
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“It’s become the Karen Reed show,” says O’Keefe’s brother, Paul O’Keefe. He told CBS Boston in July. “She will walk through cheering crowds, make public appearances to pose for photos and sign autographs.”
A view of 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts, on February 2, 2022. Massachusetts State Police Homicide Unit detectives have arrested Karen A. Reed of Mansfield on a charge of manslaughter in connection to the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, who was found unconscious outside a Canton home. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“She’s living her life as if nothing happened,” he said at the time.
Jurors in the June trial were “deeply divided” by “strong beliefs” and ultimately decided “there was no consensus,” according to a July judge’s transcript.
Watch the dashcam footage from the night John O’Keefe was found dead
A Norfolk County grand jury indicted Bentley University professor Karen Reed, 42, of Mansfield, on charges of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crash that prosecutors say caused the death of 46-year-old Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. (John Trumacki/The Boston Globe)
“While we are committed to the task entrusted to us, fundamental differences of opinion and sentiment have left us deeply divided,” the jury wrote in their final report to the judge.
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Fox News Digital’s Chris Eberhart contributed to this report.
