What does a mistrial mean in the Karen Read case?

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The legal saga in the Karen Read murder trial has garnered attention nationwide and now, it’s prompting people to wonder what comes next after a mistrial was declared.

After five days and more than 27 hours of deliberations, the 12-person jury made up of six men and six women was unable to come to a unanimous decision.

A mistrial is a trial that is not completed. Instead, it is halted and declared invalid, usually before a verdict can be delivered.

Mistrials can occur for a variety of reasons. The judge may determine that a hung jury will not be able to resolve its differences through further deliberation and declare a mistrial. This is exactly what happened in this case. The Tuey-Rodriguez text read by the judge said that there is no reason to believe another set of jurors would be more competent to decide Read’s fate but that was not enough.

“It’s not for a lack of understanding the case, it’s not for a lack of understanding the evidence, we got the evidence. It’s just we have very different opinions about what it all means, that whether that she has been proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, or for the others that they’re simply is that the case was not proof beyond reasonable doubt,” said Springfield Defense Attorney Jared Olanoff.

In the hours following that declaration, Massachusetts State Police announced that they have relieved the lead investigator of duty and they will formally transfer him out of the Norfolk County.

The DA’s office will re-try the case without him, attempting to prove that Read intentionally hit O’Keefe with her SUV and left him for dead in a snowstorm.

The next step in all this will come later this month as a status conference has been scheduled by the judge for July 22nd. Then, this case may be put in front of another jury as early as this fall.

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