The Karen Read murder trial has been delayed by at least a month after thousands of pages of new evidence was received from federal prosecutors.
Monday was supposed to be the final hearing before the beginning of the trial — Read is accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in Canton, Massachusetts, back in 2022 — but Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone set a new schedule for the trial after hearing from the U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts.
She set a new trial date, of April 16 — just over a month after the previously scheduled date of March 12.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
But Read's attorneys said they would likely need more time to comb through all 3,074 pages of evidence they received from federal prosecutors, and with a separate legal process to go through in the federal court system.
"An April 16 jury trial is not realistic," attorney Alan Jackson said.
Cannone said she understood his position, but advised him to be ready for trial regardless.
While Jackson characterized the new evidence his team had time to review as being exculpatory for Read, and entirely new, prosecutor Laura McLaughlin disputed that characterization, saying that at least 90% of the evidence is consistent with prior testimony in the case.
Read was in court for the hearing on Monday.
Last week, prosecutors said they have DNA evidence that links Read to John O'Keefe's death.
Documents indicate that a piece of O'Keefe's hair and pieces of the glass from the drink he was carrying were found stuck under Read's SUV. The documents also paint a picture of relationship turmoil. They say Read was angry at O'Keefe for allegedly cheating on her.
Also on Monday, the controversial blogger "Turtleboy" had been expected to be in court for a hearing, but the appearance ended up being postponed. Aidan Kearney was just released from jail on Friday after being indicted on two new charges last week.
Kearney appeared in court for Read's hearing Monday afternoon.
The charges are for an assault he's accused of back in December. It landed him behind bars for two months. Kearney has been the focus of investigators given his online coverage of the Read case. He's facing multiple charges of intimidating witnesses and investigators.
