DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) 鈥� A judge ordered the jury in the to continue deliberating Monday after they said for a second time that they were deadlocked.
Jurors had told Judge Beverly Cannone on Friday that they were deadlocked, only for her to ask them to continue deliberating. They returned after the weekend in just over an hour Monday to say little had changed. She asked them again to continue deliberating.
鈥淚 think this is an extraordinary jury,鈥� Cannone said of the jury note that came back Monday. 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anything like this.鈥�
The jury is 小蓝视频 asked to decide whether prosecutors have proven that Read drunkenly and intentionally slammed into her with her Lexus SUV and left him to die. The defense challenged the evidence and suggested that one or more law enforcement colleagues killed , dumped his body outside in a panic, and then framed Read to cover it up.
Who鈥檚 who?
, 44, had worked as an equity analyst and was an adjunct lecturer in finance at her alma mater, Bentley University. , 46, was a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department who was raising his niece and nephew.
Jurors are deliberating events that unfolded at the Canton home of Brian Albert, a Boston police detective, in January 2022. Brian Higgins, a federal agent who was among those gathered inside, had exchanged flirtatious texts with Read earlier that month. The lead investigator was , who was friends with several witnesses and sent offensive texts about Read to friends, family and fellow troopers during the investigation.
The charges
Read was charged with second-degree murder, punishable in Massachusetts by life in prison with the possibility of parole. She also faces lesser charges of manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence, punishable by five to 20 years, and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, punishable by up to 10 years.
The evidence
were found at the scene, and a single hair from 翱鈥橩别别蹿别 was found on the rear bumper of Read鈥檚 SUV. Prosecutors say that Read repeatedly said, 鈥淚 hit him. I hit him. Oh my God, I hit him,鈥� to first responders and others. Prosecutors replayed angry voicemails Read left for 翱鈥橩别别蹿别, painting a picture of a failing relationship. They also questioned her behavior, saying she never cried after 翱鈥橩别别蹿别鈥檚 body was found.
Read鈥檚 defense
Read contends that by officers trying to protect themselves. Her lawyers say the pieces of taillight and the hair were planted at the crime scene, which was left unsecured. They also suggested that 翱鈥橩别别蹿别 might have been beaten up by , and that the men panicked, dumping his body outside before trying to cover up the crime.
Sloppy detective work?
Regardless of any verdict, the case revealed questionable techniques and actions on the part of law enforcement. Proctor, with several of the people involved, called Read a 鈥渨hack job鈥� and texted his sister saying he wished Read would 鈥渒ill herself.鈥� He said that was a figure of speech and that his emotions had gotten the better of him.
The defense also pointed to sloppy policing: The crime scene was left unsecured for hours; the house wasn鈥檛 searched; bloodstained snow was scooped up with red plastic drinking cups; and a leaf blower was used to clear snow. The defense also claims that a prosecution witness hours before 翱鈥橩别别蹿别鈥檚 body was discovered and then deleted it, and that others linked with the case destroyed phones and manipulated videos.
Outside adjudicators
A handful of women with posters showed up Friday to counter the self-proclaimed 鈥渟idewalk jury鈥� of true crime bloggers and pink-shirted Read supporters, many of them waving the Stars and Stripes, who have gathered outside the Norfolk County courthouse every day since .
Police officers stood between the two groups, neither of which was particularly pleased.
鈥淎 hung jury, that would be terrible,鈥� said Paul Harvey, who owns a moving company in East Boston. He said Read should have been acquitted on the first day.
鈥淭his is unbelievable; the poor woman has been framed,鈥� said Michael Ward. 鈥淭his not only hasn鈥檛 been proven, but what鈥檚 been proven is she鈥檚 innocent.鈥�
Demonstrators on the other side called out what they said has been harassment of the 翱鈥橩别别蹿别 family and prosecution witnesses.
鈥淓very day, these witnesses are getting death threats. It is just disgusting to John鈥檚 memory,鈥� said Julie Guinto, an administrative assistant who said she doesn鈥檛 know the family.
Online duels
Much of the attention has been fed by social media, with supporters on both sides routinely trading barbs over the evidence, the lawyers and details from the trial.
鈥淲e know, as well as I鈥檓 sure the jury knows, that all roads lead to Karen Read,鈥� said Kate Peter, a YouTuber from North Attleborough. She鈥檚 been battling online against whose website has relentlessly questioned the prosecution.
鈥淚 am hopeful and faithful they will reach a just verdict and she will be held criminally responsible for her actions in this murder,鈥� Peter said.
A town steeped in the history of Paul Revere
Canton, a solidly middle-class commuter town of 20,000, is best known for the Paul Revere Heritage Site 鈥� 9 acres where Revere set up a mill in 1801 to roll the copper that covered the hulls of the newly formed Navy鈥檚 boats and the dome of the Massachusetts State House in Boston.
These days, tourists are as likely to pass through the town in search of places associated with Read鈥檚 trial.
There are the bars where she and 翱鈥橩别别蹿别 had been drinking that night, including the Waterfall Bar & Grille and C.F. McCarthy鈥檚, just down the street. On the same stretch of downtown is a tattered shop called D&E Pizza & Subs, which got a mention at the trial partly because it was run by Chris Albert, the brother of Boston police detective Brian Albert, who owned the house where 翱鈥橩别别蹿别鈥檚 body was found. Albert sold that house, and the new owners put up a no-trespassing sign to keep onlookers out.
Read鈥檚 supporters have turned normally sleepy town meetings into raucous affairs, trying to push out the police chief and supporting an ongoing audit of the department. They blame the police department, which recused itself from the Read investigation, for bungling it. To counter that, lawn signs have popped up declaring support for the police.
Michael Casey, The Associated Press
