Karen Read asks federal judge to block her retrial on two charges in boyfriend’s death

BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Karen Read on Tuesday asked a federal judge to prevent her retrial on two charges related to the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.

Read, who is accused of ramming into John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in January 2022, faces a second trial in April on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crime.

Her attorneys argue she was framed to protect other law enforcement officers involved in O’Keefe’s death. After a mistrial in June, they have tried to block a second trial on some of the charges based on jurors who later indicated they were deadlocked only on the manslaughter count.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last week cleared the way for a new trial on all three charges. But Read’s attorneys filed a motion in federal court Tuesday arguing that a retrial will violate her constitutional protection against double jeopardy.

A federal judge gave the state until Feb. 26 to respond and scheduled a hearing for March 5.