James Myers of OAN
Monday, July 1, 2024 2:09 PM
The Karen Reed case ended in a mistrial after five days of jury deliberations, but prosecutors have announced they will retry Reed in January 2022 for the murder of her Boston Police Department boyfriend.
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The Dedham, Massachusetts, jury sent notes to the judge on Friday and Monday saying they disagreed because of “deeply held beliefs,” but the judge ruled Monday that the deadlocked jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Furthermore, in his final memo to the judge, the jury foreman stated, “We are sharply divided in our views regarding the evidence. Some jurors firmly believe that the evidence exceeds the burden of proof to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Conversely, others believe that the evidence falls short of this standard and does not sufficiently prove the necessary elements of the charges.”
“The serious divisions are not the result of lack of effort or diligence, but rather of our sincere adherence to our personal beliefs and moral standards. Continuing deliberations is futile and will only compromise these deeply held beliefs,” the site director added.
Judge Cannone’s response was very simple: “Ladies and gentlemen, we will not do that. Your service is complete. I am declaring a mistrial in this case. Thank you so much for your service.”
But Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said after the sentence was handed down that he would retry Reed.
The trial attracted huge publicity, with crowds of support for Reid cheering her on outside the courtroom every day.
As the verdict was announced, the crowd cheered and chanted “Free Karen Reed!”
“This is what happens when you make false accusations against an innocent person. The federal government has acted at its worst,” said Reed’s attorney, Alan Jackson.
“They applied state pressure based on false accusations, compromised investigations, investigators, compromised witnesses. This is what it looked like. Guess what happened? They failed.”
The jury of six men and six women was tasked with determining whether Reed, 44, ran over Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe with his Lexus SUV outside his Canton home on Jan. 29, 2022, and left him to die in the cold.
Seventy-four witnesses testified during the two-month trial, during which Reed’s defense team argued that he was the victim of a plot by other officers to cover up the fatal shooting of O’Keefe by another officer.
Reed’s supporters argued that the mistrial proves her innocence and that prosecutors should drop the charges altogether.
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