The Karen Read trial started with a bang on Wednesday and ended with a surprise holiday weekend hiatus.
Almost immediately, things were out of the ordinary, as Judge Beverly Cannone walked into court and said “an issue” had been brought to her attention that required her to speak to each juror individually. She cleared the courtroom, and only Read, defense and prosecution attorneys and the jurors remained.
Judge Beverly Cannone spoke with each of the 18 jurors individually Wednesday before testimony resumed.
Ninety minutes went by before everyone was allowed back in and testimony began. Cannone never explained what the issue was, but after speaking to the jurors, she reminded them of the importance of not discussing the case with anyone or allowing anyone to discuss it with them.
Sue O’Connell, NBC10 Boston’s courtroom insider, was among those cleared from the courtroom as a result of Wednesday’s jury issue.
She said she still doesn’t know what the issue was that required Cannone to speak 1-on-1 with the jurors.
“We won’t know till a juror tells us at the end,” she said. “But it’s likely that someone was talking about the case and somebody knew about it and somebody told the judge about it.”
“It’s a lot of pressure on these jurors to not talk about it, not watch our show or follow what’s happening. But I know they’re going to try to keep every juror they can so they don’t have a mistrial because they don’t want to do this again.”
Read is accused of hitting John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die alone in the snow outside of a house party at 34 Fairview Road in Canton. Her defense team has said she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party. A mistrial was declared last year after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
There was one interesting detail when court resumed Wednesday, O’Connell said. All 18 jurors were still present in the jury box, but two of them had swapped seats.
“One of those jurors, I’ve actually seen him giggling with two others during sidebars on two separate occasions,” she said. “Shortly after those giggle attacks, the judge advised jurors not to make faces or mutter during testimony.”
But O’Connell said she also wants to be clear that all of the jurors appear to be paying close attention — even during the technical testimony, like that of brain surgeon Dr. Aizik Wolf on Wednesday. She said all but one of the jurors have been taking notes throughout the trial.
“I think they’re a very smart jury,” she said. “I think some people who I was looking at who I didn’t think were paying attention to some of the technical aspects suddenly perk up when something comes up and I realize they’re making a connection that’s way above what I’m thinking or I have to catch up.”
“The benefit for this trial is there are seven lawyers, so they’re not seeing the same person every single day. They’re seeing a different lawyer present this. So I think there’s enough variety here that they’re able to pay attention.”
O’Connell said she has seen some reports on social media of jurors sleeping or nodding off, but she has not observed anything like that.
“Overall, this jury is pretty stoic in their reactions,” she said. “But just like all of us watching the case unfold, they’re human too and will have reactions.”
At the end of the day’s testimony on Wednesday, Cannone said the case is ahead of schedule, so she canceled Thursday’s half day of trial. Friday and Monday were already days off, so testimony now won’t resume until Tuesday, when the prosecution could call its final witness.
