Karen Read heads to trial for the second time for allegedly murdering Boston cop boyfriend

Karen Read — the accused Boston cop-murderer who gained a massive cult following through her sensational case — will stand trial for the second time Tuesday after a jury hopelessly deadlocked over the summer.

Opening statements are expected Tuesday from both sides before a jury of 18 — nine men and nine women — in the Jan. 29, 2022, death of Read’s boyfriend, John O’Keefe.

Read’s first trial — which saw 74 witnesses take the stand and throngs of Read fanatics mass outside the courthouse over two months — ended in a hung jury in July.

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Read, of Mansfield, Mass., has maintained her innocence in the case charging her with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

She will face the same charges during her retrial despite her lawyers’ failed plea to the top court in Massachusetts to drop the murder and hit-and-run charges on the grounds that jurors were allegedly confused and actually meant to acquit her on those two counts while they were only deadlocked on the manslaughter count.

Read’s team also lost an emergency bid with the US Supreme Court to postpone her trial, claiming that trying her again on the two counts the jury allegedly intended to acquit her on amounted to double jeopardy. The high court is scheduled to hear her appeal on April 25.

The retrial will be headed by a new prosecutor, Hank Brennan — who notably defended notorious Boston mob leader James “Whitey” Bulger. Brennan has previously said he plans to try to streamline the new trial, in part by reducing the number of witnesses the prosecution will call on the second go-around.

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Read has also added new lawyers to her defense team, including Victoria George, an alternate juror who didn’t end up deliberating at her first trial.

Prosecutors claim that Read mowed down O’Keefe, 46, a 16-year veteran Boston police officer, with her Lexus SUV when she dropped him off at his cop buddy’s house for a party in Canton, Mass., and then left him to die in a snowbank as a storm was rolling in that night. The couple had been drinking beforehand.

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Want to learn more about Karen Read’s murder trial? Click down below

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But Read and her lawyers have maintained that she is a scapegoat in a sprawling law enforcement cover-up and that O’Keefe was actually allegedly killed during a fight with his officer pals during the party.

During the first trial, Read’s lawyers were allowed to bring in evidence that they claimed helped prove she was a patsy for the crime that was allegedly carried out by Boston Police Officer Brian Albert — who owned the house where Read dropped off O’Keefe — alongside Colin Albert and ATF Agent Brian Higgins.

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For the second trial, though, Cannone ruled that Colin Albert — Brian Albert’s nephew — couldn’t be raised by the defense as an alternate suspect because there wasn’t enough evidence linking him to O’Keefe’s death.

The judge also put new limitations on how far the defense could go in raising Brian Albert and Higgins as alleged alternate suspects.

The first trial was marked by drama including throngs of supporters who showed up to proclaim her innocence, and since-fired investigator Michael Proctor admitting on the witness stand to sending his friends and family “inappropriate” texts about Read, including calling her a “wack job c–t.”

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Proctor, who was a state trooper and lead investigator in her case, was put on unpaid leave after the trial and was ultimately fired last month.

Her case has garnered a cult-like following for myriad reasons including the defense theory that she was allegedly framed for O’Keefe’s death, because of her courtroom demeanor and because the livestreamed trial has allowed the public to follow along closely with all the ins and outs of the case.

Ultimately, only 12 people will be tasked with deciding whether Read is guilty. The remaining six panelists will be reserved as alternates.

With Post wires