Karen Read murder trial: Defense begins calling witnesses after prosecution rests

Lawyers for Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman charged with murder in the 2022 death of her police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe, began calling witnesses Friday.

Lawyers for Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman charged with murder in the 2022 death of her police officer boyfriend, began calling witnesses to the stand in an effort to portray their client as the victim of an elaborate law enforcement conspiracy seeking to frame her for the killing.

The testimony began Friday as the trial closed out its eighth week in a courtroom in suburban Boston.

The judge has allowed the lawyers to raise a third-party culprit defense, a strategy that permits the team to present evidence and call witnesses while introducing a theory of John O’Keefe’s death on Jan. 29, 2022, that differs from the prosecution’s.

The assistant district attorney prosecuting the case in Norfolk County has accused Read, 44, of backing into Boston police officer O’Keefe, 46, with her Lexus SUV outside the home of another Boston police officer and leaving O'Keefe there to die.

Read was charged with second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter and other crimes.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/karen-read-trial-john-okeefe-death-defense-witnesses-rcna158194

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