Expert: Karen Read’s media appearance may be a wise legal strategy

Karen Read’s Unorthodox Media interview Get a next level of strategic move from her defense?

Perhaps, according to a legal expert in Massachusetts.

Read, 45, is accused of killing 46-year-old boyfriend John O’Keefe in a drunken crash on January 29, 2022 Guangzhou, Massachusetts.

After her first trial ended with a stalemate last year, she sat down with multiple journalists to tell the side of the story, which many legal experts say is unwise. But that could pay off, as the juror appears to be focusing on the fewer charges she may have admitted on the video.

Karen Reading Jury Questions Hit the same legal dilemma as last year’s error

“When she made these statements, she was ‘testifying’ knowing they could be used in court,” said criminal defense trial attorney Grace Edwards. “It looks crazy, and it could be a strategy to put a hat on the jury and find out about her OUI and complete the task.”

She refers to allegations of operations under influence, with a subject juror deliberating on Tuesday’s multiple issues on the third day after more than 30 days of trial testimony.

Karen Read’s verdict may be quick – or not: Other cases show

Watch: Karen Read trial Prosecutions use Read’s own words to eliminate defense theory

“It’s an interesting theory – OUI falls on the sword,” said Randolph Rice, a Maryland legal analyst and attorney. “It’s a risky game for the defense.”

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He said that, despite this, the general idea is that defendants should avoid talking to the media.

“I’m sure Karen Read Camp feels good now,” he added. “Carefully optimistic.”

If she is convicted, the highest charge against Read could sentence her to life in prison. Fewer charges include driving drunk, homicide and the fatal accident.

Watch: Karen reads recordings at a local bar in a TV interview in 2024

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The charges for homicide also include additional minor charges that jurors may find themselves guilty, including driving a car under the influence of alcohol, which has a lighter sentence, excluding homicide.

Instead of stance in his defense, Read talks to journalists almost every day outside the court. After the trial last year, she sat down for many news and documentary interviews and even invited a magazine writer to stay at her home for a weekend.

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Special Attorney Hank Brennan solicited unedited source materials from reporters and played some clips in court before a jury.

In one aspect that seems to be related to the problems the jurors faced, in the hours before O’Keefe’s death, she read her own drinks because she didn’t think the bartender made them strong enough.

“They poured my drink at McCarthy’s, which is where I eat most of the alcohol, the weakest vodka tonic,” she said. “It tastes like all soda and lime, not that I need it to be a martini, but that there might be vodka in it.”

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Jurors asked the judges four questions Tuesday, many of whom focused on OUI charges.

1. “What is the schedule for OUI charging? 12:45 or 5 am?”
2. “Is Karen’s interview evidence a video clip?”
3. “Is there a guilty guilt, such as Crime 2 No. 5, convicted of the overall charge?”
4. “If we have no charges on both charges and cannot agree to one charge, is it a jury for all three charges or a charge?”

Jurors failed to make a judgment at the end of Tuesday’s day. Deliberations resumed Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET.

“I still think it’s good for her right now,” Rice told Fox News digital numbers. “Reading between two lines, I think they can’t find the intention they need for two counts, but instead try to find out the components of recklessness.”

If the worst charge is convicted Second-degree murder. Edwards said some of the allegations related to OUI have also suffered years of fines.