A photo of Karen Read’s lawyer with his arms around his smiling client’s waist and chest could potentially hurt a retrial, a former homicide detective said.
Alan Jackson, a high-powered defense lawyer who successfully fended off a murder charge against Read, was seen in a picture obtained by Fox News Digital, among other outlets, in a cozy embrace.
The photo was taken outside a restaurant in Boston on Thursday, June 27, after the case had been given to the jury to deliberate.
“Perception is everything, and if that photo is authenticated of the lawyer cuddling with his client, I can certainly tell you that’s something that’s not a good look,” former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News.
Jackson has not responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment about the photo.
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Karen Read and her attorney, Alan Jackson, center, arrive at a restaurant in Boston on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Jackson and David Yannetti were Read’s powerhouse attorneys who argued accusations that Read killed her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, were part of an elaborate cover-up and frame job.
They successfully planted enough seeds of doubt that the jury was deadlocked after nearly 26 hours of deliberation, and the weekslong trial ended with a mistrial.
Read, a 44-year-old financial analyst, walked out of the Dedham, Massachusetts, courthouse a free woman after two years of conspiracies and venomous rhetoric against Read and O’Keefe’s family and friends.
However, the saga is not over.
“The Commonwealth intends to re-try the case,” prosecutors said before a smiling Read and her lawyers were done speaking to her supporters and news outlets after Monday’s mistrial.
Karen Read smiles as defense attorney David Yannetti speaks to reporters in front of Norfolk Superior Court, Monday, July 1, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts. A judge declared a mistrial Monday after jurors deadlocked in the case of Read, who was accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by striking him with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Karen Read and her attorney, Alan Jackson, arrive at a restaurant in Boston on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Karen Read and her attorney, Alan Jackson, arrive at a restaurant in Boston on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
The narrative before, during and after the trial focused on Read.
The case turned the Boston suburb of Canton into a civil war-like atmosphere, and the death of O’Keefe was more of a footnote than the center of the story.
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“It’s turned into the Karen Read show,” O’Keefe’s brother, Paul O’Keefe, told CBS Boston. “She walks through a crowd that cheers her on. She goes in public and takes pictures and signs autographs.
“She’s just living life like nothing ever happened.”
Flags, flowers and remembrances flank the headstone of John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, at Blue Hill Cemetery, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Braintree, Massachusetts. A judge declared a mistrial Monday, July 1, 2024, after jurors deadlocked in the case of Karen Read, who was accused of killing her police officer boyfriend, O’Keefe, by striking him with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm. Prosecutors said in a statement that they intend to retry the case. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
This undated photo released by the Boston Police Department shows officer John O’Keefe. (Boston Police Department via AP)
The Massachusetts jury deliberated for nearly 26 hours and had been deadlocked for days.
The jurors were “deeply divided” because of “deeply held convictions” and a “consensus is unattainable,” according to the first of two notes to the presiding judge on Monday.
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The judge made the jury go back one more time in a last-resort effort to come to a unanimous verdict.
The result was the same, and the trial ended.
“Despite our commitment to the duty entrusted in us, we find ourselves deeply divided by fundamental differences in our opinions and state of mind,” the jury wrote in its final note to the judge.
Karen Read, right, looks up as defense attorney Alan Jackson, center, speaks to reporters while defense attorney David Yannetti, left, looks on in front of Norfolk Superior Court, Monday, July 1, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts. A judge declared a mistrial Monday after jurors deadlocked in the case of Read, who was accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by striking him with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Karen Read gets a long hug from her dad, William, before the jury breaks for lunch at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
The jury sat for weeks during a trial that included 74 witnesses and nearly 700 pieces of evidence.
Prosecutors argued a shouting match turned deadly during a booze-infused fight in January 2022, when Read allegedly backed into O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to die during a nor’easter.
WATCH: DASHCAM FROM THE NIGHT JOHN O’KEEFE WAS FOUND DEAD
His body was found on the front lawn of an influential family with deep ties to law enforcement and prosecutors. Read claimed that the family framed her for O’Keefe’s death in an elaborate cover-up.
The deadlocked jury was as torn as the otherwise quiet Boston suburb of Canton.
Critics of Karen Read gather outside the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Friday, June 28, 2024. (Patriot Pics/Backgrid for Fox News Digital)
Supporters of Karen Read celebrate near Norfolk Superior Court on Monday, July 1, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts. A judge declared a mistrial Monday after jurors deadlocked in the case of Read, who was accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by striking him with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Protesters voiced their opinions, #FreeKaren billboards cropped up, and family and friends of both sides of the case were lambasted and heckled.
One of O’Keefe’s friends told Fox News Digital that Read supporters shouted profanities and heckled them as they entered the courtroom for the first day of the trial.
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Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, a controversial blogger who was frequently seen with a bullhorn backing Read and writing about the case, was assaulted outside a Canton bar.
Jillian Daniels and James Farris, two Canton residents, were charged with assault, police confirmed to NBC 10 Boston.
