Karen Read’s murder-or-conspiracy murder trial, scripted like a TV drama, ends in a mistrial.
The Massachusetts jury, which has been deadlocked for days, didn’t come to a unanimous decision about Karen Read’s innocence or guilty after nearly 26 hours of deliberations.
Read was accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in January 2022. Read claimed she was framed in an elaborate cover-up to protect the Alberts, an influential family with deep law enforcement ties.
The jurors said in a note that they were”deeply divided” because of “deeply held convictions” and a “consensus is unattainable.”
KAREN READ TRIAL COULD SINK OTHER HIGH-PROFILE MURDERS, EXPERT WARNS: ‘HARD TO SEE HOW IT DOESN’T’
Read is accused of purposely backing into John O’Keefe with her SUV during a booze-infused fight in January 2022 and letting him die on the front lawn of a Canton, Massachusetts, home during a nor’easter.
O’Keefe’s body was found in several inches of snow outside the home of Boston police officer Brian Albert.
WATCH: DASHCAM FROM THE NIGHT JOHN O’KEEFE WAS FOUND DEAD
She pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury and death.
Jurors heard 74 witnesses and examined over 700 pieces of evidence. The jury has sent multiple notes to the judge, saying they have been deadlocked since late last week.
The murder-or-conspiracy trial fit for a TV drama became even more salacious when the Boston suburb spiraled into split allegiances.
The verdict was the culmination of two years of clashes between Read supporters and critics, with protesters voicing their opinions, #FreeKaren billboards cropping up, and family and friends of both sides of the case being lambasted and heckled.
WATCH: EXPERT REACTS TO PROCTOR’S TESTIMONY AND EXPLAINS ITS FAR-REACHING IMPACT
One of O’Keefe’s friends told Fox News Digital that Read supporters shouted profanities and heckled them as they entered the courtroom for the first day of the trial.
Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, a controversial blogger who was frequently seen with a bullhorn backing Read and writing about the case, was assaulted outside a Canton bar over the weekend.
Jillian Daniels and James Farris, two Canton residents, were charged with assault, police confirmed to NBC 10 Boston.
Shortly before the trial started, Kearney was arrested after he allegedly was “showing up” at sporting events of witnesses’ children and “made scenes,” harassed and photographed witnesses at their homes and jobs and instructed followers of his blog to do the same.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges, including witness intimidation. That case is ongoing.
GO HERE FOR MORE TRUE CRIME FROM FOX NEWS DIGITAL
Another salacious piece of the trial involved the texts of Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, an investigator on the case whose vulgar, sexist texts were revealed during testimony.
The jurors noticeably shook their heads as he read the texts while on the stand during a brutal cross-examination.
In the personal texts, he called Read a “wack job,” a “babe … with no a–” and a “c—;” wished she would kill herself; and joked about looking for nude images on her phone, among other things.
The embattled state trooper admitted his messages were “unprofessional and regrettable,” as he was being pummeled by the defense’s cross-examination, but he stood by the integrity of the investigation.
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Read’s trial or potential aftermath, and the Massachusetts State Police did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment about potential repercussions of Proctor’s actions.
7M AND THE DANCING TIKTOK CULT: EXPERT DISCUSSES POPULAR NETFLIX SERIES AND ITS LARGER THREAT
Experts, like Shira Diner, an instructor at Boston University School of Law and the president of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said this will have far-reaching consequences.
Proctor works in the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office. He was the main investigator in Read’s case and the designated case officer in other cases.
That includes high-profile murder cases like Brian Walshe, who allegedly killed his wife last year.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO PROSECUTORS: EXPERT
“In some ways, this is completely unchartered,” Diner said after Proctor’s testimony, because of how detailed the texts are and how many eyes were on this particular trial.
“If this was a trial where no one was paying attention, the cross-examination (of Proctor) would have come and gone, and maybe a few defense lawyers would have been paying attention, but that’s pretty much it.
“But now, there’s no way to undo this.”
