Prosecutors spent more than $1.4 million to retry Karen Read, records show

Crime

Hank Brennan was paid $566,000, and prosecutors spent more than $850,000 on expert witnesses and other expenses to retry Read.

Prosecutors spent more than $1.4 million retrying Karen Read for the murder of Boston police officer John O’Keefe, more than 25 times the cost of Read’s first trial, newly released public records show.

Read was accused of striking O’Keefe, her boyfriend, with her SUV in a drunken rage while dropping him off at an afterparty in Canton in January of 2022. Read was found not guilty of second degree murder in June and was convicted only of operating under the influence.

Invoices from the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, obtained by Boston.com, show that the prosecution spent more than $1.4 million to try Read the second time, up from the $50,000 price tag for the first attempt, which ended in a mistrial. 

After the first trial, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey tapped Hank Brennan to lead the retrial as a special prosecutor. Records released by the DA’s office Wednesday show that Brennan was paid $566,000 over the course of nine months.

Prosecutors paid more than $850,000 to expert witnesses, crash reconstruction experts, forensic scientists, legal consultants, court reporters, and other expenses, according to the invoices and contracts. 

In the first case against Read, prosecutors spent just over $50,000 to hire expert witnesses in digital forensics, DNA testing, and canine aggression, according to the invoices.

Crash reconstruction company earned more than Hank Brennan

Aperture, the crash reconstruction company, was paid nearly $600,000 from September of last year until June, when Read was acquitted of second degree murder. Aperture’s Shanon Burgess and Judson Welcher testified for the prosecution about digital data from Read’s SUV and two “triggering” events from the night of O’Keefe’s death — a three-point turn and a “backing maneuver.”

Prosecutors also paid more than $28,000 to Aizik Wolf, a Florida-based neurosurgeon, as well as $20,000 to a New York legal consultant firm and more than $10,000 to a canine aggression consultant.

Jessica Hyde, the digital forensic expert who testified on the veracity of the “hos long” Google search and O’Keefe’s phone data, was paid nearly $44,000, according to invoices from the DA, not including hotel and flights. Her company, Hexordia, earned $11,300 during the first trial.

The prosecution hired a paralegal on a contract basis. She was paid more than $67,000 over nearly nine months, the records from the DA’s office show.

Morrissey’s office also racked up a $50,000 bill for court reporters and stenographers. The prosecutors ordered transcripts of the first Read trial from court reporters, and requested transcriptions of Read’s “Dateline” and “20/20” episodes, among others.

Prosecutors spent around $3,000 on a weather expert, more than $15,000 for juror selection experts, and $1,400 on law enforcement training ahead of the trial, according to the invoices.

Hotels, flights, and other travel expenses also amounted to at least $11,000 for expert witnesses, including for state police troopers who traveled to New York, Vermont, and Texas to interview potential witnesses and drop off evidence.

Below is a breakdown of each of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s expenses in the retrial of Read:

How much prosecutors spent on Karen Read’s second trial

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.