Photo of Karen Read's Lawyer Embracing Client Sparks Controversy and Potential Retrial Issues

The Trial Of Karen Read | Justice For John O'Keefe

A photo of Karen Read's lawyer, Alan Jackson, embracing his client has surfaced, raising concerns about its potential impact on a retrial. The image, obtained by Fox News Digital and other outlets, shows Jackson in a cozy embrace with Read outside a Boston restaurant on June 27, after the case had been given to the jury for deliberation.
"Perception is everything, and if that photo is authenticated of the lawyer cuddling with his client, I can certainly tell you that's something that's not a good look," former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News.
Jackson, a high-powered defense lawyer, has not responded to requests for comment about the photo. Jackson and David Yannetti were Read's attorneys, who successfully argued that the accusations against her were part of an elaborate cover-up and frame job. Their defense led to a deadlocked jury after nearly 26 hours of deliberation, resulting in a mistrial.
Read, a 44-year-old financial analyst, walked out of the Dedham, Massachusetts, courthouse a free woman after two years of conspiracies and venomous rhetoric against her and the family and friends of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, whom she was accused of killing.
However, the case is far from over. "The Commonwealth intends to re-try the case," prosecutors said before a smiling Read and her lawyers finished speaking to her supporters and news outlets following Monday's mistrial. The narrative surrounding the case has heavily focused on Read, turning the Boston suburb of Canton into a civil war-like atmosphere, with the death of O'Keefe becoming more of a footnote than the center of the story.
"It's turned into the Karen Read show," O'Keefe's brother, Paul O'Keefe, told CBS Boston. "She walks through a crowd that cheers her on. She goes in public and takes pictures and signs autographs."
The controversial photo shows Read cuddling up to Jackson outside Smith & Wollensky, a high-end Boston steakhouse, last week as jurors deliberated whether she murdered her Boston cop boyfriend in 2022. The iPhone live photo appeared to capture Jackson, a star criminal defense attorney from Los Angeles, wrapping his client in an embrace — with one arm around her midsection and another tight across her chest.
"I was eating dinner with my wife and I happened to look out and see them outside, and it looked wrong and inappropriate, so I just grabbed the closest phone and took a picture," said the photographer, who did not want to be named. "It was just her attorney kinda I don’t know what you would call it. It looked inappropriate for an attorney-client type situation."
The Smith & Wollensky where the snap was taken is not far from a North End restaurant where Read and Jackson were earlier photographed dining with members of the legal team, wearing the same outfits seen in the embrace photo – a dark sleeveless top on Read, and a navy blue T-shirt and blue jeans on Jackson. Before the embrace, Read was beckoned to join two people for a photo. Those people’s outfits — a blue collared shirt and dark shoes on one man, and a rectangular black watch on the other — matched the same outfits worn by the others in the North End dinner photo.
As the case moves towards a retrial, the controversial photo and its implications for the defense team are likely to play a significant role in the proceedings. The highly publicized nature of the case and the intense emotions it has stirred in the community ensure that the upcoming retrial will be closely watched by both supporters and critics of Karen Read.
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