DEDHAM, Mass. — Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone said Tuesday that she has “grave concern” over new information shared by the Commonwealth that “may have profound effects” on the future of the Karen Read murder case.
Cannone made the surprise announcement after calling for an unplanned recess in a pretrial motions hearing, abruptly sending the defense and prosecution home for the day.
“The Commonwealth just provided the court with information that causes me grave concern,” Cannone said. “The implications of that information may have profound effects on the defense and defense council.”
I’m watching the Karen Read hearing as I work on another story. Judge Cannone came back from a recess and appeared visibly upset and cancelled the rest of pretrial hearing.
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) February 18, 2025
She announced, “The Commonwealth just provided the court with information that causes me grave concern.…
Cannone added, “For that reason, I am going to suspend today so that when we meet again to address these issues, all affected will be appropriately prepared.”
Cannone’s call for the recess came immediately after special prosecutor Hank Brennan said in open court that Read’s defense team communicated with ARCCA, accident reconstruction experts originally hired by the feds, about their testimony before Read’s first trial.
Brennan read from what appeared to be emails between the defense and ARCCA and referred to a $23,000 bill that he says ARCCA sent to the defense.
Brennan called it “unfair, imbalanced, and hidden” in open court.
More: Prior to Judge Cannone cancelling the hearing, Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan said in open court that Read’s defense team communicated with ARCCA (accident reconstruction experts originally hired by feds) about their testimony prior to Read’s 1st trial.
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) February 18, 2025
Brennan read from…
Brennan recently filed a motion to block the defense’s ARCCA witnesses from testifying in Read’s retrial. In his motion, Brennan said, “Both Dr. Wolfe and Dr. Rentschler admittedly did not review all pertinent and relevant evidence that exists in this case.”
Dr. Daniel Wolfe, an accident reconstruction specialist, and Dr. Andrew Rentschler, a biomechanical engineering specialist, both testified on behalf of Read in June 2024.
Tuesday’s pretrial hearing marked the first since the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts denied Read’s bid to get two of three criminal charges she faces in the January 2022 death of her Boston police officer boyfriend dropped.
Cannone declared a mistrial in July 2024 after finding jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on all three charges of second-degree murder, leaving the scene of a crash, and manslaughter.
Read is accused of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die after a night of drinking.
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The defense has sought to portray Read as the victim, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside the Albert family home and then dragged outside and left for dead.
The retrial of Read has been delayed until April 2025.
In an exclusive one-on-one interview on Super Bowl Sunday, Read told Boston 25′s Ted Daniel that she has “nothing to hide” and that she’s “been framed” for murder.
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