S3 Ep313: Karen Read: NOT GUILTY

On June 18, 2025, a Massachusetts jury found Karen Read NOT GUILTY of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene in the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. However, she did receive one year of probation after being convicted of OUI. We're coming to CrimeCon Denver! Use our code CRIMEWEEKLY for 10% off your tickets! https://www.crimecon.com/CC25Try our coffee!! - www. CriminalCoffeeCo.comBecome a Patreon member -- > ｿ https://www.patreon.com/CrimeWeeklyShop for your Crime Weekly gear here --> ｿ https://crimeweeklypodcast.com/shopYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimeWeeklyPodcastWebsite: CrimeWeeklyPodcast.comInstagram: @CrimeWeeklyPodTwitter: @CrimeWeeklyPodFacebook: @CrimeWeeklyPod

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:14Derrick Levasseur?

  Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of Crime Weekly, special episode. I'm Derrick Levasseur.

• 0:18Stephanie Harlowe?

  And I'm Stephanie Harlow.

• 0:20Derrick Levasseur?

  And this is going to be a brief one, but we promised after our episode yesterday that we would have an update if there was a verdict today. We had predicted that there would be a verdict today and that it would come back not guilty. And that's what you can see by the title here. Karen Reed found not guilty on the two more severe charges and guilty on the OUI. Stephanie, do you want to go over the specifics of that? What the ruling was? I'm sure everyone here probably already watched it live or has heard about it. That's, I was watching it live. And so we have the official decision, the verdict, and also the sentencing.

• 0:53Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, they, they actually did the sentencing pretty quickly. So.

• 0:56Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah.

• 0:57Stephanie Harlowe?

  I was happy about that, you know?

• 0:58Derrick Levasseur?

  Well, time to did something quick, right?

• 0:59Stephanie Harlowe?

  Exactly, like, don't drag it out.

• 1:01Derrick Levasseur?

  Exactly.

• 1:02Stephanie Harlowe?

  Anymore.

• 1:02Derrick Levasseur?

  Just do it.

• 1:03Stephanie Harlowe?

  So we know that the jury deliberations took about three full days before the conviction, which was basically only for that minor infraction.

• 1:14Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, that's, that's my opinion.

• 1:16Stephanie Harlowe?

  So, yeah, the only charge that Karen Reed was found guilty of is operating under the influence, which landed her with one year of probation. I think 20 something days of classes that she has to take, but basically a slap on the wrist.

• 1:30Derrick Levasseur?

  Yep, we talked about that.

• 1:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  The drunk driving charge was the lesser subcharge of a manslaughter count, which the jurors obviously also acquitted Reed of. So pretty much what we said when we, when we came on yesterday, that we thought, you know, they were going, which is what they were planning to do at the end of the first trial, I believe. That's what I think they were trying to do.

• 1:49Derrick Levasseur?

  I agree. We'll never know for certain, but I, if I had a million dollars, that's what I would put it on.

• 1:54Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 1:55Derrick Levasseur?

  And, you know, if you're watching it live, you're seeing it, they're reading the verdict and you hear this roar from the outside people and you could, and it just, to me, it just told you how many people were committed to this outcome, were committed to seeing this all the way through. And. They felt like it was as much of a win for them as it was for Karen Reed and her defense team.

• 2:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, you you you were you kind of compared it to you said it sounds like a Taylor Swift concert when you called me earlier.

• 2:20Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, it really did. And congratulations to Karen Reed and her defense team. We agree with the decision. There's no doubt about it. That's why I felt confident. Putting that episode out yesterday, I read between the lines with the jury questions to me. It really showed what they were debating. They were they had already decided on the two more severe charges. They were debating over the O U I. There was probably one or two people who who were leaning the other way, whatever it is, we may never know, although I think we will. And I'm glad that even though it wasn't clear cut at first, like we had hoped for at the end of our episode yesterday. They got in a room today with a full belly and, you know, a good night's rest. And they probably came to a similar conclusion that we came to, which is, hey,

• 3:04Derrick Levasseur?

  if we hang on this last charge, there's a chance that we they have to do this thing all over again. We do not want to put it in the hands of the judge. We want to take control right now, and we have the ability to do so. We understand the sentencing here, the significance of what could happen. I think the most was two years probation or something like that, or maybe there could have been some time, but I think they all felt based on that.

• 3:29Stephanie Harlowe?

  It feels like the standard sentence is what most people in this state get, yeah.

• 3:33Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, it seems standard, maybe a suspended license, you know, big deal. I don't think she's driving around much these days anyway, so I'm glad that they got in a room. And they said, hey, listen, we've already figured out the first two charges, the more severe ones. We're on the O U I. Whoever the dissenters were, they talked about it. They thought about the impact and the significance it could have on the overall case. If they couldn't come to a conclusion, they asked a few more questions specifically, in my opinion, about that charge. And they came to a resolution, and I'm extremely proud of this jury. Whether you agree with the verdict or not, we personally feel, based on the evidence that was presented, this was the right decision. There was definitely reasonable doubt. And that was from.

• 4:16Derrick Levasseur?

  In my opinion, a strategy that was much more streamlined this trial as opposed to the last one. You know, there were some comments on yesterday's video saying, oh, we didn't watch the trial. Admittedly, I'll speak for myself. I didn't watch the trial every day. I had it on in the background. I tuned in. I looked at the updates. But overall, my takeaway, especially after us doing the the five or six part deep dive, I we had the overall understanding of what happened, right? That what transpired that night. And in the first trial, in my opinion, the defense was focused on alternate theories. They talked about the McCabe's, they talked about the Albert's, they talked about Chloe, they talked about the 227 search, they talked about Colin. They brought out all these other options of what could have happened. And in this case, I felt like it was much more efficient,

• 4:59Derrick Levasseur?

  much more effective, and it was focused on one specific thing. And we're seeing it in the comments. No collision. That's the phrase. No collision. They brought in all the heavy hitters, all the experts, and showed the scientific evidence to support the thought, the the hypothesis that there was not collision. And if you were to boil this case down to one specific thing, I would say it was a battle of the experts. And candidly, the experts for the defense were much better. It's that simple. They were more articulate, they were more believable.

• 5:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  Way better.

• 5:32Derrick Levasseur?

  They came off more presentable. I don't know, just overall.

• 5:35Stephanie Harlowe?

  More confidence.

• 5:36Derrick Levasseur?

  Yes, yes. They they just they just were more prepared and they were ready for action. And ultimately, they got the verdict they were looking for. So that's, that's kind of my stance on it. There's not much to add. We we agree. This is how it should have been. It should have happened the first trial.

• 5:51Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, I just feel like in this in this case, like, yes, of course, I watched the first round in its entirety. We covered it. We covered it here. I had to. Yeah. Because I had to take clips to to kind of go along with what we were saying when we did the deep dive. Did I watch the entire second trial? I mean, it was like over six weeks long. I did watch pieces of it. I every single day followed up with updates. But in

• 6:12Derrick Levasseur?

  We talked about it a lot.

• 6:13Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah. In this trial, and in this case, I feel like every single item of evidence was up for dispute. Every single item of evidence would be under a microscope and have both sides presenting it in a way that best benefited them. Even the fact that, you know, she was Under the influence of alcohol has been disputed, which there's a clip of Karen Reed saying, "Oh, could I have hit him? Maybe." I mean, with the alcohol and everything. She's saying, "I was drinking." There's video of her drinking all night.

• 6:43Derrick Levasseur?

  We talked about that in the series. Everyone, including all these cops, including John O'Keefe.

• 6:47Stephanie Harlowe?

  But then, then her blood's taken at the hospital the following morning. So I think it was around 9 a.m. that her blood was taken. And at the time of that blood test, her BAC was between .078 and .083, which is right around the legal limit.

• 7:05Derrick Levasseur?

  Teetering right on the legal limit.

• 7:06Stephanie Harlowe?

  But hours before that, yeah, hours before that, it would have been high. But once again...

• 7:11Derrick Levasseur?

  Well, that makes sense with the question they asked, right? The time, are they going OUI at 1:45 in the morning or 5 a.m. in the morning? Because obviously, at that point, she'd be coming down. So that makes more sense with the question that was asked by the jury.

• 7:22Stephanie Harlowe?

  Well, if you take it at 9 a.m. and it's right around the legal limit, obviously, even two to three hours before that, it wasn't. It was higher. So I don't think that's up for debate. But yet, you know, they, they managed to, during the trial, put that up for debate, which is what her defense team is supposed to do, right? Because now they can only sort of estimate what her BAC would be at the time that they estimate she may have hit John O'Keefe. So, yeah, everything's sort of up for, you know, interpretation. Yeah, exactly.

• 7:52Derrick Levasseur?

  Which is a great, which is a great phrase for this case because there's a lot of, there's a lot of experiments, a lot of science, there's biomechanical, there's accident reconstruction, there's forensic evidence.

• 8:03Stephanie Harlowe?

  Stuff that we don't understand and we have to leave it up to the experts to communicate to us. But depending on whether that's an expert for the prosecution or an expert for the defense, obviously, their interpretation will be drastically different. And it's like, whose interpretation do you believe? We don't know about velocity and we know about as much about that stuff.

• 8:22Derrick Levasseur?

  How many cases have we had that?

• 8:23Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, we know about, about as much as that as the, for the prosecution's initial witness that they brought up during the first trial.

• 8:31Derrick Levasseur?

  Oh, my God, that poor guy, Paul, Trooper Paul. Was that his name?

• 8:34Stephanie Harlowe?

  That was a mess. Yeah, I think so.

• 8:35Derrick Levasseur?

  Was that his name, that poor guy? I felt bad after a while. Was it just a beating? Saying it yesterday, I I wanted this trial to be over for everyone. And you know what? That includes the O'Keefes because they've been going through this every day as well. And regardless of what happened in this trial, their life will never be the same. John's not coming back. And at some point, you have to try to move on with whatever you have left. And it's never going to be the same. It's never going to be as good. But at this point, even though I don't know how they feel about the verdict, then we'll let them speak on it. But at this point, it's over. Karen Reed will never be tried again for the murder of John O'Keefe. And based on how the case was constructed,

• 9:16Derrick Levasseur?

  the Alberts and the McCabe's will never be arrested or tried for this case as well. How could they get ever go after someone else? Anyone else with the case that they just put on against Karen Reed? They couldn't. So I think it's safe to say at this point, as far as John O'Keefe is concerned, the person responsible or the people responsible for his death will unfortunately never be held accountable. And that pains me to say it. I wish that wasn't the case. But that's the reality we're living in. So at this point, Karen is going to move on. There's going to be things that happen after this. You had talked about some of the things yesterday. There's going to be more litigation, civil suits.

• 9:53Stephanie Harlowe?

  I don't know if there will be, but I would I would expect that there would be.

• 9:57Derrick Levasseur?

  You would assume. And so there's going to be stuff going on there. It won't probably be as publicized, you know, because it's not as salacious, I guess, as far as, you know, knowing what's going to happen as far as someone going to prison for the rest of their life.

• 10:08Stephanie Harlowe?

  I think it'll be absolutely just as salacious. I think people will be just as much interested in it because especially, yeah, especially the, you know, very, which, you know, we may not always agree on everything, but I do really, really, really appreciate and support anyone's passion when they are so very much in support of someone that they feel is being wrongly accused and treated badly by the justice system. I have so much respect and admiration for that, even if we don't agree on every single small detail. Basically, I don't know what happened. And it's really difficult for me when everything is so, you know, very gray to come out one way or the other. But I I really respect anybody's

• 10:52Stephanie Harlowe?

  heated passion to defend somebody who they feel is being wronged by a system that's supposed to protect and help us. So.

• 10:59Derrick Levasseur?

  And these people that were talking about law enforcement, they could also be investigating your case or my case. I'm 40 minutes away. So that's a scary thought.

• 11:07Stephanie Harlowe?

  And I think at the end of the day, what Karen Reed, if she decides to pursue legal action or civil action against these, you know, law enforcement bodies or the state that she feels wronged her, and so many people agree with her, including myself and Derek, we agree that the way they treated her was unacceptable.

• 11:26Derrick Levasseur?

  This was the right decision.

• 11:28Stephanie Harlowe?

  If she pursues legal action against them, then I think there's going to be a lot of people following it and cheering her on and in her corner. And if there is another sort of case that's brought out, now you're going to have, like you do in a civil court, they're going to have to show certain things. And who knows what her lawyers are going to ask for? Who knows what's going to come out from that?

• 11:48Derrick Levasseur?

  Well, the threshold is much lower.

• 11:49Stephanie Harlowe?

  It is much lower.

• 11:50Derrick Levasseur?

  It's preponderance of evidence.

• 11:52Stephanie Harlowe?

  So I think it could be even more salacious at this point.

• 11:55Derrick Levasseur?

  Right. So the only reason the comparison I make is to OJ Simpson where we had the main trial, and then there was the civil suit where OJ lost. He had to pay $33 million. I don't remember that getting as much coverage.

• 12:07Stephanie Harlowe?

  This is a different time. We had the internet.

• 12:08Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, you're right.

• 12:09Stephanie Harlowe?

  Social media, X.

• 12:10Derrick Levasseur?

  You're right. Imagine if OJ was around now.

• 12:13Stephanie Harlowe?

  Oh, gosh.

• 12:14Derrick Levasseur?

  Can you imagine?

• 12:15Stephanie Harlowe?

  I know. I don't want to.

• 12:17Derrick Levasseur?

  I agree with everything you said right there. I say the statement all the time. I'd rather see 100 guilty people go free than one innocent person go to prison for a crime they didn't commit. And we always have to approach every case like that. There are going to be times where someone could slip through the cracks in a certain case. But I'd much rather find that out than find out later, 20 years later, that someone who actually was innocent, lost their freedom for something they didn't do. That's horrendous.

• 12:43Stephanie Harlowe?

  And there's not a world I could see that Karen Reed in this trial, either that they called another mistrial, or they found her guilty, that the entire state of Massachusetts didn't riot at that point.

• 12:53Derrick Levasseur?

  You said this.

• 12:54Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah. I was like, I hope for that state that they make the right decision, because people are so sick and tired of this. Nobody wants to see their resources and time go to another ridiculous trial. And I think that you would have had a public in complete outrage. Like, the Red Sox winning would have seen nothing on this.

• 13:14Derrick Levasseur?

  Damn, my Red Sox. Yeah, no, listen, I, I, I agree. And yeah, it was just a better, more streamlined case by the defense. I had, I misspoke yesterday when I talked about the x-rays, not that there was no x-rays for John O'Keefe to substantiate him being hit, but more so the prosecution and their experts, some of them not even being, being aware that those x-rays existed. How are you gonna beat a, a, a, a top-tier defense team like that when you don't even have those facts correct? Now, at minimum, it's a lack of preparation. Worst-case scenario, as some people have suggested, they intentionally hid those x-ray results because they didn't want them to come out because it would hurt their case of there being an actual collision. So, overall, just to reiterate, where this is the right decision.

• 13:59Derrick Levasseur?

  This is how the justice system is supposed to work. Some of you may agree with the verdict, some of you may not. But either way, it played out the way it was supposed to play out. The jury did their job, both sides put on their case. And now Karen Reed gets to move on with the next chapter of her life. And so don't the O'Keefes, maybe not the chapter they wanted, but this whole part of their life is over. Now it's the next thing. And I, I hope that everyone, even though there was some very passionate debates about Karen Reed, online, offline, different podcasters going at each other, it was, it was crazy. I'm really hoping at this point, as you just mentioned, because I think it's, it's what I want to end on, and I said it in the comments yesterday, the passion behind this case for Karen Reed,

• 14:45Derrick Levasseur?

  and even some passion on the other sides about her being guilty, just how involved everybody was. I really hope as a true crime community, we take that energy and we take that passion and we apply it to some of the other cases that need this type of attention as well. Missing persons cases, unsolved homicides, the wrongfully convicted, whatever it might be. Let's unify as a community and get behind something that the majority of us can agree on and get justice for the next person. That would be my plea to everybody watching this right now. Because we do have the ability to make a difference. And that has been proven in this case. You could hear, again, that up, that- Roar from outside the courtroom. That was real people with real lives believing in something so passionately

• 15:29Derrick Levasseur?

  that they were willing to wait outside that courthouse for as long as it took to get that verdict and you have to respect that.

• 15:34Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, I do. Absolutely. Hundred percent. So the right decision was made finally, you know, better late than never.

• 15:39Derrick Levasseur?

  Proof beyond a reasonable doubt was not met.

• 15:42Stephanie Harlowe?

  I don't think that it was in the first trial either.

• 15:44Derrick Levasseur?

  I would have even been, I mean, listen, at this point, and I said it yesterday, I would have even been okay with the OUI being dismissed.

• 15:50Stephanie Harlowe?

  Oh, I would too, yeah.

• 15:51Derrick Levasseur?

  That just goes to show that they were doing everything the right way. This is a huge win for Karen Reed and her legal team. We all have to respect the results. The court has made their ruling and that's the end of this one as far as the criminal case is concerned.

• 16:04Stephanie Harlowe?

  Here's what I think. I think, and this is my speculation, I think Auntie Bev got a few calls last night for maybe some people more high up than her and they're like, listen, man.

• 16:13Derrick Levasseur?

  She amended the verdict slip today.

• 16:15Stephanie Harlowe?

  They're like, listen, you're, you're out of pocket. You look ridiculous now. You're just making this worse. You need to go in there. They're going to give you your verdict. You're going to give her a sentence, slap on the wrist, get it out of here. We are done with this, man. We look like clowns. Enough Auntie Bev.

• 16:33Derrick Levasseur?

  Yep. Get on your.

• 16:35Stephanie Harlowe?

  And now she's got, she's got the jurors list basically suppressed, you know, because she's like, oh, I'm suppressing the jurors list because, you know, people like Turtle Boy have harassed people before and, you know, I want to keep these jurors safe. And it's like, these jurors are safe, my friend. They are, they made the right decision. No one is mad at these jurors. Okay?

• 16:56Derrick Levasseur?

  They were presented with a series of evidence. They evaluated it and they came to a conclusion conclusively and unanimously. Can't debate it. It's done. Karen Reed will never be tried again and that part of her life is over.

• 17:10Stephanie Harlowe?

  I'm just waiting for the announcement that Beverly Canone is retiring.

• 17:14Derrick Levasseur?

  Some people were saying in the comments that can she be held in contempt? I think you were laughing at that.

• 17:18Stephanie Harlowe?

  Oh, it was a hose long before Aunt Beth is helping to come. I died.

• 17:24Derrick Levasseur?

  That was good.

• 17:25Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah.

• 17:25Derrick Levasseur?

  That was good. Okay, so we're gonna wrap it up here. That's gonna put a pin on Karen Reed. If there's something new that develops with either Karen Reed or, you know, John O'Keefe, we'll keep you updated. We're gonna be back later this week with Darlie Rootier, part five? Part five? And spoiler alert, we have a very special announcement for that episode that we're super excited about. Again, we appreciate the comments. We appreciate the engagement. For the most part, the debate is healthy. Everyone's talking about it. Not everyone agrees with everything we say. That's okay. That's the world we live in. We have to have healthy debate. That's how we make a better society. I hope everyone stays safe out there. We will see you, what, two days? Two days from now? We'll see you then. Take care. Have a good night. Be safe.