DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) – Jury selection resumed in the Karen Read retrial Wednesday morning, with the court still searching for a few more alternate jurors.
On Tuesday, Judge Beverly Cannone welcomed a new group of 47 potential jurors and explained the case to them. Read is accused of striking and killing her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe with her car in 2022 and leaving him in the snow.
Cannone then asked the potential jurors a number of questions, including if they knew any of the 149 witnesses listed as people who could take the stand once the trial gets underway.
The jury now sits at 12. One juror was dropped on Tuesday, but three more were added.
Read said it is her understanding that opening statements begin next Tuesday, assuming at least four more jurors are selected this week.
“I’m anxious and it’s in God’s hands, and we’re fighting and working as hard as we can, so what else can we do?” Read said.
Read has taken her case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her attorneys made a formal request to delay the retrial so justices can consider her claim that unannounced verdicts after her first trial resulted in acquittal on two of the three charges.
After court Tuesday, Read weighed in on her thoughts about the Supreme Court taking up her case.
“To quote ‘Shawshank Redemption,’ ‘Hope is a great thing, sometimes the best of things.’ So, I’ll take any chance with the Supreme Court,” Read said.
One person from Tuesday’s jury pool was asked to come back Wednesday to provide some more information.
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