The latest on the Karen Read murder case
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Karen Read lawyer Alan Jackson lambasts prosecutors in fiery statement
Alleging “an egregious breach of prosecutorial ethics,” Jackson accused prosecutors of executing “a personal vendetta” against Karen Read.
Karen Read’s murder retrial may be over, but the sparring between defense attorney Alan Jackson and special prosecutor Hank Brennan continued Tuesday with a fiery statement from Read’s top lawyer.
Raking Brennan over the coals for what he claimed was “an egregious breach of prosecutorial ethics,” Jackson accused the special prosecutor of attempting to “publicly shame and discredit” the jurors who acquitted Read of murder and manslaughter charges last week.
In his own statement Monday, Brennan expressed disappointment in the verdict and said his “independent and thorough review” of the evidence “led to one person, and only one person,” in the January 2022 death of Read’s boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
More on Karen Read:
Jackson didn’t pull any punches in his response, issued on Read’s behalf.
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“For him to attempt to supplant his personal views for that of the jury is a desperate attempt to save face in the wake of a unanimous rejection of the prosecution’s case,” he said of Brennan.
According to Jackson, a thorough investigation would have shown Brennan “hidden exculpatory evidence; lies and perjury by the Commonwealth’s own witnesses; cops covering for other cops; a biased and corrupt lead investigator with personal ties to witnesses; and inculpatory and suspicious conduct by myriad witnesses.”
While prosecutors alleged Read, 45, backed her SUV into O’Keefe in a drunken rage and left him to die in a blizzard, her lawyers argued she was framed in a law enforcement conspiracy. Read’s first trial ended in a mistrial last summer after jurors returned deadlocked. Brennan, a former prosecutor and veteran defense attorney who previously represented the late gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, signed on last fall to lead the prosecution for the retrial.
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Adamant that Read is “factually innocent,” Jackson said the high-profile case never should have gone to trial in the first place.
“The only job of an ethical prosecutor is to seek the truth in a just and fair manner,” he said. “The Commonwealth fell wildly short of that responsibility.”
Rather than seeking justice for O’Keefe, the prosecution was “a personal vendetta against Karen Read by [Norfolk District Attorney] Michael Morrissey and his hand-picked prosecutors — and it cost the people of Norfolk County millions.”
If Morrissey had his way, Jackson alleged, the truth about O’Keefe’s death “would have been lost somewhere in private and deleted conversations.”
“It is now crystal clear that disgraced DA Michael Morrissey has no interest in actually seeking justice for John O’Keefe by identifying and prosecuting the real killer or killers,” he added. “The Commonwealth would rather simply condemn the jury and its fair and lawful verdict.”
Read Alan Jackson’s full statement:
The jury has spoken, but Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan, in an egregious breach of prosecutorial ethics, has tried to publicly shame and discredit that very jury. For him to attempt to supplant his personal views for that of the jury is a desperate attempt to save face in the wake of a unanimous rejection of the prosecution’s case.
The Rules of Professional Conduct are clear: A prosecutor should support the legitimacy of the justice system and promote public confidence in its operations. Openly attacking a jury’s verdict because he disagrees with it undermines that centuries’-old edict.
Mr. Brennan claims that his investigation was “thorough.” If that were true, the Commonwealth would have uncovered what we, the defense, uncovered: hidden exculpatory evidence; lies and perjury by the Commonwealth’s own witnesses; cops covering for other cops; a biased and corrupt lead investigator with personal ties to witnesses; and inculpatory and suspicious conduct by myriad witnesses.
The only job of an ethical prosecutor is to seek the truth in a just and fair manner. The Commonwealth fell wildly short of that responsibility. Theirs was not an effort to find justice for John O’Keefe. Rather, it was a personal vendetta against Karen Read by DA Michael Morrissey and his hand-picked prosecutors — and it cost the people of Norfolk County millions.
The fact is Karen Read is factually innocent, and this case never should have gone to trial in the first place. This case is a stark reminder that there has been a complete breakdown in what is supposed to be our justice system. Those in power are more interested in protecting themselves than the citizens that they are sworn to protect.
The Commonwealth’s defamatory public comments ring hollow to the very constituents they are supposed to serve. It is now crystal clear that disgraced DA Michael Morrissey has no interest in actually seeking justice for John O’Keefe by identifying and prosecuting the real killer or killers. The Commonwealth would rather simply condemn the jury and its fair and lawful verdict.
We are thankful for the jury’s commitment to truth, and that they found their way to a just verdict. But make no mistake — if DA Michael Morrissey had his way, the truth never would have come out in this case. It would have been lost somewhere in private and deleted conversations that would never have seen the light of day. Corruption like this doesn’t happen in isolation. How many innocent people have been railroaded because of failures in our judicial system? We, as citizens, must demand more of our institutions.
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