The jury in the Karen Read murder trial began a fifth day of deliberations this morning. By 10:50 a.m., the jury sent another note stating they were still deadlocked.
“I think this has been an extraordinary jury. I’ve never seen a note like this reporting to be at an impasse,” Judge Beverly Cannone said. “I do find now that with the additional time that they went out without coming back Friday saying they were deadlocked is due and thorough deliberation so I’m going to give Tuey-Rodriguez.”
The “Tuey-Rodriguez” warning is a legal last warning to the jury before a mistrial can be declared. Jurors on Friday sent a similar note indicating they were deadlocked and Cannone sent them back to continue to try to reach a verdict.
The lengthy and composed language of the warning emphasizes that “absolute certainty cannot be attained or expected” in cases and that a verdict must be delivered on the basis of each jurors “own convictions, and not merely an acquiescence in the conclusion of the other jurors.”
It also notes that any future jury would be composed of individuals much the same as the current one and that the burden of proof rests solely on the prosecution.
“With all this in mind, it is your duty to decide this case if you can do so conscientiously,” the warning states.
The note
The note the jurors handed over, which Judge Cannone read in court at around 11 a.m., states:
“Judge Cannone, Despite our commitment to the duty entrusted in us we find ourselves deeply divided by fundamental differences in our opinions and state of mind.
“The divergence in our views are not rooted in a lack of understanding or effort but deeply held convictions that each of us carry, ultimately leading to a point where consensus is unobtainable.
“We recognize the weight of this admission and the implications it holds.”
Reaction
“Wow,” retired Superior Court Judge Jack Lu told the Herald right after the warning was read. “If they ‘hang’ it is astounding that they have ‘hung’ so quickly.”
Lu said Cannone is “handling this flawlessly” and that “the note is extraordinary, if not unprecedented, in how the jury expresses its understanding of its sacred duty.”
“This note does support the giving of Tuey-Rodriguez because it shows that the jury is conscientious and devoted to the integrity of the process,” Lu added.
Prosecutor Adam Lally argued against issuing the warning when the note was first delivered.
“While I understand that (jurors) have been at this for a while, I would submit that they have not” come to a due and thorough deliberation, “and I would ask that the court not make such a finding.”
“They really haven’t even had one hour of deliberations equivalent to each of the days of testimony they have heard,” Lally continued, noting they had deliberated for 22 or 23 hours and had heard 29 days of testimony. “I would submit that the evidence and testimony of witnesses and the complexity of the issues in this case, I would submit they have not done a thorough deliberation up to this point.”
Defense attorney David Yannetti welcomed the warning.
“They’ve come back twice now indicating essentially that they’re hopelessly deadlocked,” he said. “They have been over all of the evidence. … This time they say they have ‘fundamental’ disagreements about what the evidence means. And it’s a matter of opinion, it’s not a matter of lack of understanding.
“When you sent the jury out and encouraged them not to take a straw vote, encouraged them to go over all the evidence in a very methodical manner, and by all indications they’ve done that. This is what Tuey-Rodriguez is for.”
Outside the courthouse following the reading, Yannetti told reporters the jurors “are doing their job.” It’s a sentiment his co-counsel Alan Jackson also stated: “They’re doing a great job.”
Lu added that understanding the weight on the court staff is important, too.
“I hope the public understands how the employees of the Massachusetts Trial Court work their hearts out trying to achieve justice in emotional and divisive cases like this,” he said.
Background
Cannone opened court right around 9 a.m. Once the jurors affirmed they had avoided reading, discussing or independently investigating the case over the weekend, she let them loose to continue deliberations.
Read, 44, of Mansfield was also charged with manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. The second of the indicted charges features two “lesser included charge” options: involuntary manslaughter and motor vehicle homicide.
Jurors indicated through a note sent to the judge midday Friday that they believed they were deadlocked and could not reach a verdict. Cannone, who has to make precise moves when a jury states this, sent them back to continue to try to reach a verdict. Jurors began deliberations last Tuesday following closing arguments.
Herald reporter Lance Reynolds contributed.