What happens if there is a hung jury in the Karen Read trial? What to know
It's rare, but it happens: a hung jury.
Less than 10% of juries deadlock, according to a study by the Court Statistics Project, but sometimes the 12 jurors just can not agree.
Which is where jurors in the high-profile Karen Read case told Judge Beverly Cannone they are, in a note from the jury foreperson on Friday afternoon. She told them to keep deliberating.
Read is on trail for the 2022 death of Boston police Officer John O'Keefe, who she was dating at the time of his death. She was arrested days afterward on charges of manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of a deadly crash.
Two narratives have emerged since the arrest. The state alleges that Read killed O'Keefe by backing into him with a car and leaving him to die. Read's defense team argues that the police and other parties have colluded to frame Read for O'Keefe's murder.
The case has drawn national attention and daily protests outside the courtroom.
But what happens if the jury can't come to consensus?
Who is Karen Read? Everything you need to know about Boston's Karen Read murder trial
What happens if the jury is hung?
If the jury deadlocks, then a mistrial is declared.
This means the trial will start all over again from the beginning with a new jury.
The district attorney would have to decide whether or not to bring the case forward again. This would not violate the constitutional prohibition on "double jeopardy" because no verdict was reached.
Is it common for a judge to tell a jury to keep deliberating?
It's not unusual for a judge to tell a jury to keep trying, even after they initially say they are deadlocked.
“Whenever a jury says it’s deadlocked (at this stage), a judge always sends them back and pushes them,” Peter Elikann, a longtime Boston defense lawyer and member of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Council said Friday. He added it’s not unusual for a judge to continue requiring deliberations even after a second or third such note.
How likely is it that the Karen Read jury stops being deadlocked?
Elikann said sometimes jurors are able to reach a verdict after initially signaling concern, and sometimes they are not.
“We don’t really know what is going on inside (the jury room). It’s pure speculation,” he said. “But what would be very important to know is, whether there’s two strong sides to this, or whether it’s just one or two people holding this up.”
Has Judge Beverly Cannone declared a hung jury before?
As of Friday afternoon, Cannone told the Karen Read jurors to keep deliberating, but she has declared a jury hung before - and fairly recently.
In the trial of double-murder suspect Emanuel Lopes last July, Cannone declared a mistrial after one juror refused to continue deliberating. Lopes was found guilty in his second trial of killing Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna and resident Vera Adams. He has not been sentenced yet.
Jessica Trufant and Rin Velasco contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Karen Read trial: What happens if there is a hung jury?