Defendant Karen Learn will not testify as prosecution performs essential interviews

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Karen Read’s protection crew’s determination to not name her to the witness stand is a raffle that might assist or hinder her case after the prosecution performed her damaging interview clips in her second homicide trial – permitting the jury to listen to Learn’s model of occasions in her personal phrases.

Learn is going through the opportunity of life in jail for the alleged murder of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. The prosecution claims Learn struck O’Keefe along with her Lexus SUV in a drunken argument, leaving him to freeze to loss of life within the entrance yard of a buddy’s home celebration shortly after midnight on Jan. 29, 2022.

Learn’s protection crew insists her car by no means made contact with O’Keefe and there was no collision.

"After I first got here to apply, it was ‘by no means put your shopper on stand, ever,’" New York Metropolis protection legal professional Louis Gelormino informed Fox Information Digital. "However I are inclined to disagree with that typically. I believe we now have gotten our greatest wins after we put our shopper on the stand."

KAREN READ'S TRUE-CRIME DOCUMENTARIES MAY IMPACT SECOND TRIAL: COURT DOCS

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/672/378/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-21-017.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/1344/756/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-21-017.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/931/523/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-21-017.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/1862/1046/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-21-017.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Karen Learn walks with certainly one of her attorneys, Alan Jackson, throughout her trial Tuesday, Might 27, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald by way of AP, Pool)

On Tuesday, the protection submitted the crew’s proposed jury instructions that point out Learn won't take the stand in her trial.

"As you understand, Ms. Learn didn't testify at this trial," the directions learn. "Chances are you'll not maintain that in opposition to her. Ms. Learn has an absolute proper to not testify as a result of, as I've defined, she is presumed to be harmless and doesn't should do something to persuade you she is harmless."

The directions stress that the rationale Learn selected to not take the witness stand isn't related to the jury’s deliberations and can't be thought-about proof in her trial. Authorized specialists inform Fox Information Digital the selection to maintain a defendant from talking might not at all times be the only option.

KAREN READ, ACCUSED KILLER OF COP BOYFRIEND, SHOWED NO EMOTION UNTIL JURY DELIBERATIONS: DOCUMENTARY

Karen Learn and John O'Keefe pose for an undated {photograph}. (Karen Learn)

Gelormino mentioned he believes Learn would placed on a robust efficiency on the witness stand, however calling her to testify doesn't come with out dangers.

"I believe the rationale they're hiding her is as a result of they do not wish to should have her clarify all these movies that they noticed of her not performing in a great way," Gelormino mentioned.

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Karen Learn talks along with her attorneys Robert Alessi and David Yannetti throughout her trial at Norfolk Superior Courtroom, Tuesday, Might 6, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald by way of AP, Pool)

Particular prosecutor Hank Brennan performed quite a few clips from Learn's televised interviews, selecting out clips that might probably harm the protection.

"I additionally surprise, did I say, ‘might I've hit him,’" Read said in a 2024 interview with Investigation Discovery. "Or was it informed to me that I mentioned I hit him. And I knew I by no means might’ve mentioned that, so the closest factor I need to’ve mentioned was, ‘did I hit him?’"

Within the clip, Learn questions if she "actually [said] it as many instances as regulation enforcement is claiming."

KAREN READ DEFENSE FLOATS THEORY THAT ‘JEALOUS’ BRIAN HIGGINS FOUGHT JOHN O'KEEFE BEFORE DEATH

WATCH: Karen Learn offers firsthand account of night time earlier than John O'Keefe's loss of life In one other clip, she talked about spiking her personal drinks with additional pictures as a result of they weren't robust sufficient.

Gelormino mentioned the protection crew probably doesn't need Learn to be confronted about her statements on cross-examination , presumably opening the door for days of tense questioning from the state.

"They do not wish to have her explaining all of those misbehaviors or what individuals would suppose could be dangerous habits," Gelormino mentioned.

However the option to hold Learn off the stand might probably hold her from offering an evidence for her statements within the interviews whereas additionally clarifying her aspect of the story.

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Prosecutor Hank Brennan questions a witness throughout the Karen Learn homicide trial at Norfolk Superior Courtroom, Tuesday, Might 27, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald by way of AP, Pool)

"There are two sides of each coin," Gelormino informed Fox Information Digital. "You may put her on and attempt to have her clarify it, or you possibly can keep away from it altogether."

Gelormino pointed to the truth that Learn might seem defensive whereas providing an evidence for her on-camera tales, which might shift the jury’s notion of her persona.

"As a protection legal professional, you'll have to wash that up," Gelormino mentioned. "So you'll be spending a whole lot of time defending your character there."

GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB

Karen Learn arrives at court docket on day 22 of the Karen Learn homicide trial at Norfolk Superior Courtroom in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, Might 28, 2025. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK by way of Imagn Photos)

The movies pose a brand new impediment for the protection, since they weren't performed in Learn’s first trial final yr.

"The primary jury nearly convicted Learn of manslaughter whereas working beneath the affect," retired Massachusetts Superior Courtroom Decide and Boston Faculty regulation professor Jack Lu informed Fox Information Digital. "That was with no defendant video statements. Right here, we now have many damaging statements, and possibly a couple of extra in rebuttal."

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Lu mentioned the protection has not tried to deal with the video clips or present context concerning Learn’s model of occasions at this level within the trial.

"So, the identical trial plus the damaging video, the place the jury nearly convicted, is dangerous for the protection," Lu mentioned.

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Because the protection continues calling witnesses, the notable absence of Learn’s personal testimony will probably solely be totally felt as soon as the jury reads its verdict, with the prosecution performing as the one aspect that opted to incorporate her personal phrases within the courtroom.

"Primarily based on the truth that they'd a hung jury the final time, [the defense has] a good case," Gelormino informed Fox Information Digital. "So do you wish to mess that up with having her defend her actions and character for the subsequent two or three days on the stand? That is a tricky determination."