Karen Read Trial

Karen Read's breaking her silence ... admitting she was angry with Boston cop John O'Keefe the night he died -- but, says that doesn't mean she ran him over with her SUV.

Read -- who is scheduled to be retried for O'Keefe's death in January 2025 -- sat down for an interview with ABC News ... saying John really upset her after a night of drinking in 2022, and she angrily left him at a friend's house.

Asked if a combination of anger and alcohol could've led her to try to "tap" O'Keefe with her SUV, Read shows her frustration ... denying she did and emphasizing she would never do that.

Karen Read is getting sued by her late BF John O'Keefe’s family ... and the family is also going after the two bars they say overserved her booze before she allegedly struck O'Keefe with her SUV in '22.

TMZ obtained the docs ... John’s brother Paul O'Keefe and other family members just filed a civil suit for wrongful death and emotional distress against Karen ... who’s still staring down a second murder trial after her first ended in a mistrial.

Paul and family claim Read was reckless and ignored the risks after drinking ... adding she allegedly left John -- a Boston police officer -- on the ground to die after hitting him with her SUV in a snowy yard.

Karen Read is the Massachusetts woman accused of her police officer boyfriend's death ... and after a hung jury prompted a mistrial, it's fair to wonder if she was being framed.

TMZ Studios' new series, "Strange & Suspicious," dives into weird and unexplained stories -- and here, we're looking into the possibility Karen is getting blamed for a murder she didn't commit.

Remember ... she's accused of drunkenly running over John O'Keefe.

Karen Read is heading back to court for round two -- a judge just greenlit a second murder trial in the death of her BF, John O'Keefe ... weeks after declaring it a mistrial following a hung jury.

Massachusetts Judge Beverly Cannone has penciled in Read’s retrial for January 27, 2025 ... dropping the news Monday in front of both the prosecution and defense attorneys.

The date isn't locked in yet because Read's lawyer, David Yannetti, mentioned to Judge Cannone he's got another trial lined up right before then.

A juror in the Karen Read mistrial now confirms what the defense claimed earlier this week -- that the jury voted unanimously to acquit her on 2nd-degree murder -- and the juror told the defense team it would be "unjust" to retry her.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the juror described the last day of the trial as a "whirlwind" and "very confusing." After the judge declared a mistrial, jurors were loaded on a bus and the jurors were wondering, "Is anyone going to know that we acquitted [Karen Read] on Count 1 and 3? No one ever asked about those counts."

As we first reported ... Read was acquitted on charges of murder and leaving the scene of an accident by a unanimous vote of 12-0 in her favor. But, the jury was deadlocked on the last charge – vehicular manslaughter – voting 9-3 in favor of a guilty verdict. For a conviction on the vehicular manslaughter charge, the jury needed to be unanimous.

Karen Read gets good news in her murder trial, Margot Robbie has good news on the family front and two NBA players got into it overseas ... all this on TMZ Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live" Harvey and Charles break down the bombshell revelation from Karen's legal team ... the jury in her murder mistrial unanimously voted to acquit her on the murder charge.

Karen Read may be tried again for the death of her boyfriend after the judge declared a mistrial, but murder charges may not be on the table ... because according to the defense, the vote on the murder charge was 12 - 0, IN FAVOR OF ACQUITTAL!

Read's lawyer, Alan Jackson, has just filed docs arguing prosecuting Read for 2nd-degree murder a second time would amount to double jeopardy. Shockingly, when the judge declared the mistrial, she didn't say anything about the jury's vote on the murder charge.

We've also learned the jury was unanimous in favor of acquittal on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident where there was injury or death. The only charge on which the jury was deadlocked was vehicular manslaughter, where the jury apparently voted 9 - 3 in favor of guilt.

A photo of Karen Read's attorney Alan Jackson embracing her tightly from behind is as innocent as her fans believe she is in her murder case ... at least according to people in Karen's inner circle.

The photo, taken outside a Smith & Wollensky restaurant in Boston, has created a big stir around the high-profile case since it was taken on June 27. The jury was in the middle of deliberating ... deciding whether Karen had indeed murdered her police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe.

But, a source close to Karen tells TMZ ... the image is being taken out of context, as it was actually an innocent moment of celebration -- and there was "nothing to this other than goofing around."