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Introduction
Karen Read’s lead attorney, Alan Jackson, has publicly criticized special prosecutor Hank Brennan for his comments regarding the jury’s verdict in the Karen Read murder trial. Read was recently found not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. She was, however, convicted of operating under the influence.
Brennan, who had remained silent for five days after the verdict, released a statement expressing his disappointment and asserting that his investigation, along with a federal review, led him to conclude that “only one person” was responsible for O’Keefe’s death. He also condemned “witness abuse” during the case.
In response, Alan Jackson released a lengthy statement on Tuesday, accusing Brennan of an “egregious breach of prosecutorial ethics” by attempting to “publicly shame and discredit that very jury.” Jackson stated that Brennan’s comments were “a desperate attempt to save face in the wake of a unanimous rejection of the prosecution’s case.”
Jackson emphasized that the role of an ethical prosecutor is to seek the truth in a just and fair manner, and he argued that the Commonwealth “fell wildly short of that responsibility.” He further asserted that the prosecution’s effort was not about justice for John O’Keefe, but rather a “personal vendetta against Karen Read by DA Michael Morrissey and his hand-picked prosecutors.”
Jackson also claimed that if Brennan’s investigation had truly been “thorough,” the prosecution would have uncovered the “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 a myriad of witnesses” that the defense did.
The defense attorney concluded by stating that Karen Read is “factually innocent” and that the case never should have gone to trial. He also criticized Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey for his brief post-verdict statement (“The jury has spoken”) and for what Jackson perceives as a lack of interest in identifying the “real killer or killers.”
Video