This is WBZY, Boston's news radio, redefining local.
News seventy five degrees in Boston. It is four o'clock. Good afternoon. I'm Nicole Davis. Here's what's happening. A massive legal victory for Karen Reid. She was acquitted on several charges today, including second degree murder, manslaughter while drunk, and leaving the scene of a crime resulting in death. Of course, all this connected to the death of John O'Keefe. She was sentenced to one year probation for OUI WBC's and the Friedman is back with us with the very latest Emma.
Yeah, Nicole. Karen Reid, her defense team and her dad walked out of court after she was acquitted of some of the most severe charges against her, not most, actually all of the severe charges against her. She just spoke to a huge crowd of supporters, many dressed in pink, outside Norfolk Superior Cordon Detam. Thank you, Rice a Quarters. They pulled this through on their backs, thank you. Many of the supporters were doing that sign language sign for
I love you while she walked out. Kind of looks like that rock and roll sign a little different though she's been doing it a lot recently as she walks to and from the courthouse during the eight weeks of testimony, doing it to all of her supporters out there and them doing it back. It's kind of become a sign on the internet. You see it everywhere.
Now.
Today really has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Though everybody was called into court after jurors said they had a verdict, then they went back on that, as we saw just a few minutes later, everybody called back again. I mean, it's been really a crazy day and read and her defense seemed more visibly very emotional. I know you saw that, sure, Yeah, Like I think even David Yanetti, I believe there were tears in his eyes.
I think I saw some too, And you know, she was hugging everybody, and you can imagine. I mean, this has been going on for three years now, at this point, more than three years. So it's a resolution not everybody will be happy with, but for the Red Team for sure.
Yeah. Absolutely. I mean Karen Reid, like she came out victorious in this. She was not convicted of you know, second degree murder and that, but you know, the real victim in this, obviously, John O'Keefe, her boyfriend, Boston police officer who was found dead in the snow and Canton in twenty twenty two January twenty ninth. They're not Blizzard, so you know, it's there's definitely like there's all the supporters out there cheering, but there is very sad undertones
throughout this whole day. I mean, the whole thing is all about John O'Keefe, right, So it's it's been a crazy day, very emotional day as well. I mean it's caught so many people's attention.
Yeah, around the globe. I mean people have been following this everywhere, and the internet presence has been really something.
Oh my gosh, everybody seems to know about it. Everyone's mom, everyone's aunt, everybody has been talking about.
The text messages I've been getting. Yeah, there's quite a few. Emma Friedman, thank you so much for all your work fallowing this case. We have a heat advisory up four parts of the day tomorrow because many of us will be seeing temperatures pushing ninety and if that wasn't uncomfortable enough for some, the humidity level is going to feel pretty tropical, so keep that in mind. Tonight it's already pretty muggy. You might want to run the ac tonight when you're sleeping. We have a low in the mid
sixties for tomorrow, again hot and humid. We'll have some thunderstorms late in the afternoon with a high near ninety clearing out tomorrow night with a low in the mid upper sixties. Right now, seventy four in Wareham, seventy one in Auburn, seventy five in Lowell. In Boston at four oh six, it is overcast and seventy six degrees. Okay, Right back to our breaking news. Karen Reid acquitted of the most serious charges she was facing in the death
of John o'keith. WBC's Madison Rodgers in the studio with me, now, Madison, what's going on here?
Good afternoon, Nicole. Well, it's been two long trials and nearly three and a half years now with Karen Reid found not guilty of murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene This afternoon in the death of her boyfriend Boston police officer John O'Keefe. Jurors announced the verdict, which included one guilty charge, operating under the influence. We heard from legal analyst Phil Tracy, a veteran local lawyer and former Suffolk County prosecutor.
In this case, reasonable dove played a big factor because jurors might have said, well, I think she was mad and hit him by accident or whatever. But nevertheless they say that there's too much doubted you.
Red has been sentenced to one year probation, which Tracy calls very light under the circumstances. He thought the Commonwealth might have pushed for harsher than usual punishment. But this isn't over yet.
The civil case by the o'kay family is now strengthened in the sense that she's been found guilty of offerating onto the influence. And again the burden of proof is so different for the civil case. It's preponderance of the evidence, more evidence than less evident.
He also stressed how hard this is for O'Keeffe's family. Reid is celebrating and told a crowd of supporters that no one's fought harder for justice for John O'Keeffe than me and my team. Back to Unicol.
All right, thanks so much, Madison, And you know, when it comes to the trial, it took quite a bit of money to put all this on wbz's Hile Shaffle takes.
A closer look. Denham has played host to the high drama of the Karen Reed trial for years now, and now we're getting a sense of the final tab. Barricades have been up everywhere, all on High Street and Debdham where Norfolk Superior Court sits, trying to keep protesters out of the way of traffic. The town also installed permanent buffer zone road signs at every corner of the court
ordered buffer zone. On top of that, Deadham police officers have been on patrol around the court making sure nothing gets out of hand. And all that costs money. The town of Deadham tells WBZ News Radio that the police and public works efforts this here cost over one hundred grand, which is more than many town employees here making a year.
We've asked State Police for their numbers. They're still tallying the trial costs for this year, but last year's trial costs more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in taxpayer money. Hyle Shaffle, WBZ Boston's News Radio.
So again a recap here. Karen Reid found not guilty of murder in the second degree in the death of John O'Keefe. She was found not guilty of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor. She was found guilty on a lesser charge of OUI, and she was also acquitted on leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.