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- Charlie McKenna | cmckenna@masslive.com
The jury for Karen Read’s second trial gained three members and lost one on Tuesday, bringing the total number of people picked to 12 across six days of selection.
The juror previously selected dropped out due to personal reasons.
In all, 47 potential jurors were questioned individually by Judge Beverly Cannone and lawyers for both sides on Tuesday. In addition to the three people picked for the jury on Tuesday, one person will return on Wednesday for additional questioning.
The jury comprises six men and six women. Jury selection continues Wednesday, as both sides work to seat 16 jurors for the second trial.
It took five full days to seat a jury for Read’s first trial.
- Read more:What makes jury selection in the Karen Read trial so hard? It’s not just publicity
Leaving court Tuesday, Read said opening statements will be on April 15. Alan Jackson will deliver the opening statement for Read’s defense in the second trial, after David Yannetti delivered it in the first trial. Jackson delivered the closing argument in the first trial.
Almost 400 people have now been questioned to potentially serve on the jury for Read’s second trial. Close to 90% — 343 of the 391 — said they had heard about the case before they were called for jury duty.
Tuesday’s pool had the highest concentration of potential jurors who had already heard about the case — all but two of the 47 potential jurors said they had.
Each morning of selection begins the same way, with Cannone reading a statement of the case, laying out what prosecutors say Read did: backing her SUV into her then-boyfriend, Boston Police officer John O’Keefe, outside a Canton home following a night of drinking.
She tells jurors that Read is presumed innocent and has no obligation to prove her innocence during the trial.
Cannone also references the intense publicity that has consumed the Read case, saying, “public comment will likely continue,” but “the rule of law will be upheld.”
Read thanks the potential jurors after each lawyer introduces themselves.
Cannone then reads out the entire witness list, which contains 150 names, before beginning questioning. After the group questioning, jurors are left to complete a three-page questionnaire.
Only after all that are jurors questioned individually.
During individual questioning, both sides can strike a juror for any reason. Each side gets 16 strikes. Read said her team has used 11 and prosecutors have used 12.
Read, 45, is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident causing injury or death in connection with the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police officer John O’Keefe.
Read’s defense claims she is being framed and others are responsible for O’Keefe’s death.
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