DEDHAM – Supporters of Karen Read hoping to get a seat inside the courtroom at Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham on the first day of her second-degree murder trial on Tuesday knew they would not be allowed inside if they wore clothing or any other shows of explicit support for the 43-year-old Mansfield woman, so instead they said it with pink.

"It's her favorite color from what I've heard," said Tina Saggio, of Hopedale, who was among the dozens of pink-clad people who showed up early Tuesday to both get in line for a chance to get in while also showing their support to passers-by if they could only get as far as the sidewalk.

Saggio said she has attended the multiple hearings in the complicated court case for the past year.

""I've been here in the cold and in the rain," she said. "I'm here because this innocent woman is going to trial. This could be any one of us."

The first day of Read's second-degree murder trial on Tuesday, when jury selection begins, drew the same outpouring of support for the 44-year-old Mansfield woman as her case has since her 2022 arrest on charges she backed into her boyfriend while drunk and left him to die outside a Canton home in a blizzard.

It also brought dozens of local and national news outlets to Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, where the jury selection was set to begin on April 16 after the date was pushed back a month to give lawyers for both sides time to review thousands of pages of evidence, expert opinions that have often contradicted each other, motions and filings, as well as information from an ongoing federal probe into the case.

Read's trial is expected to continue for several weeks.

Meanwhile, just down the road, outside the 200-foot buffer zone established for protesters by the judge, Karen Read supporters carry their signs proclaiming Read's innocence while soliciting − and receiving − multiple supportive honks from the cars driving by. One said simply said "John O'Keefe" and another resembled a Massachusetts license plate with the word "Framed" on it.

A sign posted to a utility pole, presumably at the 200-foot mark, reminds people of the judge's order in the protesters' own way: "Restricted area: No free speech beyond this point."

Read has been charged with second degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, 46-year-old Braintree native and Boston police officer John O'Keefe, after his body was found in the driveway outside the Canton home of a fellow Boston police officer on Jan 29, 2022.

She was arrested shortly after and indicted on the charge in Norfolk County Superior Court in June 2022.

Her indictment also included charges of motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury and death.

Prosecutors say Read backed into O'Keefe with her SUV as she was leaving the home. She drove back to Canton several hours later after she said she was unable to reach him by phone.

Her defense team has since alleged that they believer O'Keefe went into the home after Read drove off and got into a fight with people inside. They said wounds on O'Keefe's body suggest he was also attacked by a dog in the house.

The defense claims O'Keefe was subsequently placed in the driveway in the frigid weather to cover up what had happened. Her supporters allege a coordinated effort to hide the crime by local law enforcement, some of whom have direct ties to some people in the house that night.

Aiden Kearney, who operates a news blog under the moniker of Turtleboy, brought attention to the case through an ongoing series of posts that he said points to the validity of the cover up.

Kearney, who is facing over a dozen witness intimidation charges connected to the case, was jailed for 60 days for violating his conditions of release after an ex-girlfriend, who is also a likely witness in the case against him, said he shoved her at her home after charges had been brought against him.

Many of Read's supporters, such as Saggio, credit Kearney for bringing what they believe to be credible accusations and evidence to light in the case.

The state had pushed to create a 500-foot buffer zone around the courthouse to keep the demonstrators from impeding or intimidating people involved in the case as they come and go from the building throughout the course of the trial.

Judge Judge Beverly Cannone approved a no-protest zone of 200 feet.

Under her orders, supporters within the 200 feet are not allowed to use megaphones but are allowed to carry signs and wear buttons and clothing expressing their feelings towards the case and the people and officials involved in it.

That is not the case inside the courtroom, however, where Cannone said such expressions would not be allowed, which is where the pink clothing comes in. Law enforcement members are also banned from wearing their uniforms.

Read and O'Keefe had been drinking heavily at a bar before she dropped him off at the Fairview Lane Home in Canton, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors say Read backed into O'Keefe with her SUV as she was leaving the home. She drove back to Canton several hours later after she said she was unable to reach him by phone.

Her defense team has since alleged that they believer O'Keefe went into the home after Read drove off and got into a fight with people inside. They said wounds on O'Keefe's body suggest he was also attacked by a dog in the house.

The defense claims O'Keefe was subsequently placed in the driveway in the frigid weather to cover up what had happened.

Prosecutors said an examination of O'Keefe's body did not find any canine DNA.

According to prosecutors, evidence in the case includes pieces of the cracked taillight from Read's SUV found by Massachusetts State Police. The prosecution also said that the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory found O'Keefe's DNA on that broken taillight and pieces of red plastic consistent with Read's taillight on O'Keefe's clothing. 

Prosecutors have also said human hair found on the back of Read's SUV is being tested. 

Read's lawyers said a DNA expert they hired said hair on Read's taillight was not human, They also claim a federal probe into the case contradicts the state's claims related to the broken taillight.

The prosecution said it is still waiting on mitochondrial DNA testing of a hair sample found on the back of Read's SUV.

While protestors have formed a "Free Karen Read movement," Read remains free on $80,000 bail.

Her bail had been set at $50,000 when she was first arrested and was set at $100,000 following her initial arraignment in February 2022. Judge Cannone reduced that amount to $80,000 shortly after.

Her lawyers made an unsuccessful bid this past September to drop the bail entirely and remain free on personal recognizance pending the outcome of the case.

News Source : https://www.patriotledger.com/story/news/2024/04/16/karen-read-protesters-trial-begins-john-okeefe-braintree-ma-dedham-ma-canton-ma/73337252007/