Judge denies Karen Read another mistrial in killing of boyfriend

Judge Beverly Cannone denied a mistrial request from Karen Read’s defense during her second murder trial for the death of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe. The defense sought a mistrial after prosecutors, for the first time, introduced O’Keefe’s sweater and questioned a defense expert about the absence of dog DNA on it, challenging the defense’s claim that dog bites caused injuries on O’Keefe’s arm. Prosecutors allege Read hit O’Keefe with her car and left him to die during a blizzard in 2022. Read denies the charges. The defense argued the DNA topic was unfairly introduced late and urged a mistrial, but the judge allowed questioning to continue, ABC News has reported. The expert maintained that lack of dog DNA does not disprove dog bites due to testing delays and chain of custody issues.