(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Karen Read’s emergency request to delay her state murder trial until it reviews her appeal. No explanation was given for the denial of her request.
Read had filed an emergency petition on Monday, asking the court for a stay of her retrial — which has begun jury selection — pending review by the high court on her claims of constitutional violation.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson denied the request on behalf of the court.
Read is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, in January 2022. Prosecutors alleged Read hit O’Keefe with her vehicle and left him to die as Boston was hit with a major blizzard. Read has denied the allegations and maintained her innocence.
Read claims her retrial would violate double jeopardy after several jurors from her first trial said she was acquitted of two of the three counts. The judge declared a mistrial in Read’s first trial last year after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.
She was charged with first-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. She pleaded not guilty.
Read’s attorneys have asked multiple appeals courts — and now the Supreme Court — to dismiss the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the retrial. They argued in court filings that retrying her on the charges would violate double jeopardy protections because, based on subsequent statements from four jurors, the jury had reached a unanimous decision to acquit Read on the charges.
All of those requests have been rejected by judges.
Three new jurors were seated on Wednesday, bringing the running total to 15. The panel is comprised of eight men and seven women.
The court seeks to seat 16 jurors in total, with12 deliberating the case and four serving as alternates.
Read told reporters outside the courthouse on Wednesday that the defense has used 11 of their 16 challenges, and the commonwealth has used 12 during jury selection, according to WCVB.
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