Karen Read’s defense wants verdict slip simplified as jurors deliberate murder charge

​

Karen Read’s defense team has filed a motion to amend the verdict slip in her second trial on murder charges as jurors return to the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts, for their first full day of deliberations in the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe.

One of her attorneys, David Yannetti, told the court Friday after jurors broke for deliberations that he hoped his proposed amendments would make it less confusing after jurors deadlocked in Read’s first trial last year, paving the way for the second, which began on April 22.

Yannetti warned that the existing verdict slip has a “real potential to confuse the jury and cause errors” – focusing on Count 2 – the drunken driving manslaughter charge. The slip indicates that jurors can find her not guilty of the charge and a series of included lesser offenses, or they can find her individually guilty of three less-serious crimes ranging from involuntary manslaughter to drunken driving.

Judge Beverly Cannone denied the motion in a handwritten note Monday afternoon.

EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON KEY MOMENTS THAT COULD DECIDE KAREN READ’S FATE IN MURDER TRIAL

Legal experts tell Fox News Digital the second count may be Read’s most vulnerable point after more than 30 days of trial testimony.

“They had a strong factual defense to lowest charge, which they did not express because they went with a kitchen sink defense,” said Jack Lu, a retired Massachusetts judge and Boston College law professor. “The top charge was weak at trial No. 1.”

But the evidence is strong that she was drinking – she appears on surveillance video pouring extra shots into her own drinks and even explained herself in part of an interview that was played at trial.

“The drinks that they were pouring me at McCarthy’s, which was where I consumed most of the alcohol, was the weakest vodka tonic,” she told the camera. “It tasted just like all soda water with lime, not that I need it to be a martini, but it might have a splash of vodka in it.”

WATCH: Karen Read recounts night of drinking at local bar in 2024 television interview

Read’s blood-alcohol level was estimated to be around .09% when she was hospitalized for a mental health check following the discovery of O’Keefe’s remains on Jan. 29, 2022. Nine hours earlier, at the time of the crash, it was estimated to be significantly higher, although the defense argued she could have continued to drink after returning home.

According to her defense team, it was Count 2 that jurors couldn’t agree on after her first trial. 

“That is where Karen Read is most vulnerable,” said Grace Edwards, a Massachusetts defense attorney who is following the case.

Judge Cannone spent about an hour reading jury instructions before jurors began deliberating around 2:40 p.m. Friday.

Read, 45, is accused of clipping the 46-year-old with the rear passenger side of her 2021 Lexus LX 570 SUV in a drunken hit-and-run during a blizzard in January 2022.

Read the motion and judge’s order

According to testimony from prosecution experts, he fell backwards and hit his head on the frozen ground, causing a fatal skull fracture on the lawn outside another officer’s home, where friends were drinking at a house party.

The defense denies that a collision occurred between Read’s vehicle and the victim and suggested that a romantic rival at the party could have beaten him to death and put his body where it was found.

GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB

Prosecutors allege that Read slammed it into reverse after a drunken argument and left him on the ground to die.

The relationship was on the rocks at the time of O’Keefe’s death, according to testimony and text messages read at trial.

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X

Read’s first trial ended with a deadlocked jury last year after the panel could not reach a unanimous agreement on all the charges against her.

SIGN UP TO GET THE TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER

She is accused of second-degree murder, drunken driving manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly accident.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Read faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted on the top charge. If convicted Count 2, she would face 5 to 20.