(NewsNation) — A judge heard pretrial motions in the retrial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman accused of striking her boyfriend with her car and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in 2022.
Opening statements are set for next week after Judge Beverly Cannone said there would be no court Thursday or Friday.
Jury selection in the case ended Tuesday with 12 jurors and six alternates selected in a case that ended in a hung jury after a previous trial. The selection took 10 days and included nearly 600 prospective jurors.
Many were disqualified because they had heard of the case and had formed an opinion.
Read, 46, is accused of striking her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, with her car and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in January 2022. She has maintained her innocence, suggesting she was framed and alleging a cover-up by law enforcement.
She has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene.
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.
Karen Read not guilty of manslaughter: Former juror
A juror from Karen Read’s first trial believes the evidence presented was insufficient to convict her of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend
“We just didn’t have enough of the facts,” former juror Ronnie Estanislao told NewsNation on Wednesday. “The facts that were provided to us and the testimony clearly indicated that there was reasonable doubt, or it was clear that she was not guilty of certain charges.”
Estanislao, who works as a paramedic, said the jury was convinced Read was not guilty on two of the three charges — second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident. The jury deliberated for several days on the involuntary manslaughter charge before the trial ended with a hung jury.
He cited inconsistencies between the victim’s injuries and what would be expected in a pedestrian strike.
“The injuries were inconsistent with a pedestrian struck, as well as the damage to the vehicle was inconsistent to the severity of the injuries that he sustained,” Estanislao said.
Read’s defense has attracted attention for its claims of police corruption and cover-up. The defendant herself has faced criticism for her demeanor during court proceedings, sometimes appearing to smile, leading some media outlets to describe her as “America’s happiest murder defendant.”
Estanislao defended Read’s courtroom behavior, saying, “I believe we’re all human and we are all emotional, and therefore we can have some emotions and some expressions.”
When asked about the upcoming retrial, Estanislao predicted another hung jury unless new evidence is introduced.
“I honestly think that we did our due diligence as a jury, and we couldn’t get consensus with 12 individuals. I can’t imagine that they would [reach consensus] unless there’s any kind of changes with the evidence or information.”