‘This Is Funny?!’ Judge Angrily Scolds Karen Read in Blockbuster Trial’s Latest Crazy Turn

Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP

As the fate of Karen Read rests in the hands of the jury, the accused murder suspect was scolded in court by the judge.

Both sides of the case presented their closing arguments and the jury was given instructions by the judge. On the second day of deliberations on Wednesday, Judge Barbara Cannone and Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson had a testy exchange in the courtroom.

Read, according to Boston’s 7 News , appeared to smile and shake her head. That earned her a rebuke from Cannone, who stopped to say: “Excuse me, this is funny, Ms. Read?” The moment was caught on video and posted by WBZ TV reporter Kristina Rex on Twitter/X :

Read, a former adjunct college professor in Massachusetts, faces charges including second degree murder of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe . The morning of January 29, 2022, after Read dropped O’Keefe off at a party at a fellow cop’s house, his body was found outside and unresponsive. She claimed to have witnessed him walking into the house before driving off, but other partygoers claimed that Read backed into him with her SUV then left him to freeze to death in the winter storm.

His cause of death was ruled as hypothermia and blunt force trauma to the head. Manner of death was undetermined.

The trial revealed several complicating factors about the case , including the defense’s argument that O’Keefe had an altercation inside the house after Read left. The defense also presented a Google search made by one of the people present at the party (an off-duty Boston police officer) for “ho[w] long to die in cold” three hours before the body was discovered.

Many have posited that Read was framed by the police; the argument was bolstered by the testimony of the lead investigator, Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor , who admitted on the stand that he exchanged a series of offensive texts about Read, including one to his sister in which he wished Read would “kill herself.”

Read has maintained her innocence and pleaded not guilty to all charges.