Norfolk DA’s office reveals how much money Karen Read’s second trial cost taxpayers
The first time the state attempted to convict Karen Read of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend, it cost taxpayers $50,000 and ended in a mistrial.
In the second trial in the death of John O'Keefe, Read was convicted in June only of operating under the influence.
That trial cost taxpayers $1.4 million, according to newly released public records from the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office.
Leading the way in expenses was Aperture, a crash reconstruction company, which was paid nearly $600,000 from September of last year until June, when Read was acquitted of second-degree murder .
Aperture's Shanon Burgess and Judson Welcher testified for the prosecution about digital data from Read's SUV and two "triggering" events from the night of O'Keefe's death: a three-point turn and a "backing maneuver."
Another big expense was for Hank Brennan , who Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey appointed as special prosecutor to lead the trial. Records show that Brennan was paid $566,000 over the course of nine months.
Prosecutors also paid more than $28,000 to Aizik Wolf , a Florida-based neurosurgeon, as well as $20,000 to a New York legal consultant firm and more than $10,000 to a canine aggression consultant.
Jessica Hyde , the digital forensic expert who testified on the veracity of Read's and O'Keefe's phone data, was paid nearly $44,000, according to invoices from the DA, not including hotel and flights. Her company, Hexordia, earned $11,300 during the first trial.
The prosecution hired a paralegal on a contract basis. She was paid more than $67,000 over nearly nine months, the records from the DA's office show.
In the first case against Read, prosecutors spent just over $50,000 to hire expert witnesses in digital forensics, DNA testing and canine aggression, according to the records.
Read, formerly of Mansfield, was accused of striking O'Keefe with her SUV in a drunken rage while dropping him off at an after party in Canton in January 2022. She is still facing a civil trial brought by the O'Keefe family .
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