DEDHAM, Mass. — A judge is set to rule on whether state investigators can search two cell phones seized nearly two years ago from Karen Read as part of an ongoing witness intimidation investigation.
Read’s phones were a focus of a hearing at the Norfolk Superior Courthouse in Dedham involving content creator and “Free Karen Read” activist Aidan Kearney—known as “Turtleboy”. Read did not attend the hearing, and Kearney appeared by video.
Special Prosecutor Robert Cosgrove, hired by the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office, is seeking access to the devices, as he seeks to determine if Read conspired with Kearney to intimidate witnesses in her now-concluded murder case.
The phones were seized by Massachusetts State Police before Read’s first murder trial, but as Cosgrove confirmed to Judge Peter Krupp during a brief hearing, they have not yet been searched because he does not have the passcodes.
Attorneys for both Read and Kearney vehemently opposed the prosecutor’s request.
Read’s lawyer, Steve Boozang, criticized the delay and the intrusion, telling reporters outside the courthouse that the request was “utterly and completely ridiculous.”
“She doesn’t want them to download the phone, why should they?” Boozang said, noting the phones contain Read’s sensitive personal information, including her banking, finance, and health records, and that the prosecution has held them for two years.
Aidan Kearney’s lawyer, Tim Bradl, echoed the sentiment, stating, “Mr. Kearney fully supports Ms. Read on this idea that the government has no right to this; they can’t sit on this stuff. They chose to forgo the opportunity to search for these for 2 years. They get whipped and suddenly want to scrape through her stuff.” Kearney himself is already facing witness intimidation charges for his aggressive activism towards police and people who testified in Read’s two trials.
A jury found Read not guilty of the murder of John O’Keefe during a retrial in June.
Special Prosecutor Robert Cosgrove did not comment to reporters after the hearing.
Judge Krupp announced that he would take the matter under advisement, indicating he plans to issue a decision on the fate of the phones -whether to set search parameters- or order their return to Read in the coming days.
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