Defense hammers ‘ridiculous’ evidence in Karen Read closing, says case is ‘cooked’

Karen Read’s lead defense lawyer Alan Jackson urged jurors to find her not guilty Friday in a closing argument that disputed the prosecution’s entire timeline from the night Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe died in Canton, a suburb about 20 miles south of the city.

Read, 45, is accused of slamming her 2021 Lexus SUV into her 46-year-old former boyfriend and leaving him to die on the ground in a blizzard on Jan. 29, 2022.

“There was no collision,” Jackson told jurors. “There was no collision. There was no collision.”

KAREN READ TRIAL NEARS ITS FINALE: WHAT EACH SIDE IS BANKING ON

He argued that a sloppy investigation, a lack of physical evidence and witness testimony left a mountain of reasonable doubt in the case. He said the commonwealth’s case is “cooked” after an expert analysis of O’Keefe’s injuries and called the prosecution’s crash reconstruction a “ridiculous blue paint kindergarten project.”

KAREN READ ANNOUNCES SHE WILL NOT TESTIFY IN HER DEFENSE AS MASSACHUSETTS TRIAL NEARS CONCLUSION

The lead homicide detective got fired from the Massachusetts State Police and did not testify at trial.

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X

WATCH: Karen Read’s father addresses media as she prepares for closing arguments

SIGN UP TO GET THE TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER

Special prosecutor Hank Brennan is up next.

The case is expected to go to jurors later this afternoon after more than 30 days of testimony.

Although Judge Beverly Cannone asked for an earlier start than normal, court kicked off with a sidebar conference that lasted over a half-hour.

GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB

Read’s defense and Brennan are expected to turn up the heat as they hope to convince jurors of their diametrically opposed claims about what happened to O’Keefe. According to the defense, her vehicle never hit him.

Read faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted on the top charge of second-degree murder. If convicted of drunken driving manslaughter, she would face 5 to 20.