Four jurors were seated Tuesday as jury selection got underway in the highly anticipated Karen Read murder trial, and experts say it won't be easy.
Prior to the start of jury selection, Judge Beverly Cannone announced that she is not going to exclude the defense from using a third-party culprit defense during the trial. Prosecutors had filed a motion seeking to prevent the defense from making such an argument.
"I'm going to give you a chance to develop it through relevant, competent, admissable evidence," she said. "But you cannot open with it."
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Read is accused of killing her boyfriend John O'Keefe, a former Boston police officer, in January of 2022. Prosecutors say she hit him with her SUV and left him in a blizzard, but her attorneys say she's being framed as part of a massive coverup. The defense claims O'Keefe was attacked inside the home.
After a brief sidebar with lawyers for both sides, court went into recess around 9:45 a.m. The proceedings resumed shortly after 10 a.m., with Cannone giving a brief overview of the jury selection process and how the trial will work to about 100 potential jurors who had been brought into the courtroom.
She then read the full list of possible witnesses, including dozens of police officers, firefighters, doctors and other medical professionals. Also included on the list of witnesses were numerous Canton residents, O'Keefe's father, two juvenile relatives of O'Keefe, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey and journalist Gretchen Voss, who wrote a feature story about the case for Boston Magazine last year.
Defense lawyer David Yannetti said at a hearing Friday that Read's legal team intends to use a third-party culprit defense. Yannetti said an affidavit by a forensic pathologist states that O'Keefe's injuries were consistent with being in a fight, not being hit by a car. He said three people — Brian Albert, Colin Albert and Brian Higgins — all had a motive, the opportunity and means to attack John O'Keefe.
The Commonwealth called Yannetti's arguments speculation, saying they lacked actual evidence and instead were nothing more than "fertile imagination."
Cannone said she expects the Read trial to last somewhere between 6-8 weeks once a jury is seated. She said the schedule will include full days on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and half days on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"This is just a best estimate," she said. "Sometimes trials go longer, sometimes they go shorter."
The case has seen heavy media attention, which was evident during jury selection. Some 70 of the 90 potential jurors brought in Tuesday said they had heard of the case.
"Lawyers and the media often overestimate the extent to which the public is aware, or knows about the case," said David Davis, who has been a Cambridge-based jury consultant for 35 years. His resume includes working with prosecutors to pick a jury for the OJ Simpson double murder trial.
Mark Geragos, who worked on the Scott Peterson trial, says he always worries about a juror's real motives, especially in cases like Read's, with the buzz online.
"My biggest worry on cases this like this, is what I call stealth jurors, jurors who have an agenda and want to get on a trial one way or another," he explained. "One of the greatest tail tale signs if someone is a stealth juror is if they want to serve on the jury, because in my experience, having done this hundreds of times, very few people are eager to serve on a jury."
Read arrived for court shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Dozens of supporters of Read were already lining the streets near the courthouse on Tuesday morning, carrying signs with messages saying "Free Karen Read" and "Framed."
Cannone considered dozens of motions filed by both sides on Friday. Experts say as many as many as 150 potential jurors could be brought to the Dedham courthouse each day. Legal analysts say selecting an unbiased jury won’t be easy.
"What the court has in front of them in selecting an unbiased jury is going to be extraordinarily difficult," said legal analyst Michael Coyne.
"From my perspective, they both have fairly legitimate arguments, so it's going to be a very interesting trial to see what actual evidence is submitted on each of their behalf," said attorney Katherine Loftus.
The judge did approve a motion that allows the prosecution to do background checks once the jury is selected.
