Friday’s news that the jury was possibly hung in the Karen Read murder trial was overshadowed by changes to the makeup of the crowds in attendance outside of the courtroom as their deliberations continue.
News came around noon on Friday that the jury was hopelessly deadlocked and that they wanted to end deliberations. Judge Beverley Cannone brought the prosecution and defense in to discuss the note from the jury before the lunch break.
The defense team argued that the jury had enough time (roughly 18 hours) to determine that they could not come to a conclusion and asked for the case to be declared a hung jury. The prosecution argued that there was not enough time to even review the evidence, let alone have a deadlocked jury.
Judge Cannone heard both sides then sided with the prosecution, stating that the jury had only been deliberating for three days, most of which were shortened for various reasons. She seemed to agree that there simply wasn’t enough time to review the evidence or deliver a verdict, so she brought the jurors in and instructed them to continue their deliberations after lunch.
The jury deliberated until 4:15PM without a verdict.
Overshadowing the jury was the changes in those present outside of the courthouse each day. Crowds had gathered primarily in support of Read, lead by Read’s personal current social media team. Former head of social media for Read, Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, who lost his position after being indicted for multiple charges of felony witness intimidation, claimed that at least a thousand people have gathered each day during the deliberations.
The makeup of the crowd of newcomers and changes to Read’s security team has troubled long-time supporters. YouTuber Tom CPU, who has been supporting both Read and Kearney during their on-going legal battles – often being the only fan on scene for their preliminary court hearings – has expressed his frustration with the mob scene during the deliberations.
Tom CPU had previously claimed to be a security person for Read and took his role seriously, stating multiple times that he was there to protect her. At midweek he attempted to live stream as he walked into the buffer zone around the building with her security team, only to be stopped by a state trooper who told him that he could not enter as he was not a registered member of the security team.
The YouTuber had an extreme reaction to the Trooper’s command and was offended that he had to stand with the rest of the press in an area outside of the Courthouse. The insult stung Tom CPU as he had previously been a personal guest of the Read family and was allowed to sit with them for one day of hearings in the trial.
Tom CPU’s father died later the same day. Our condolences go out to him and his family during this time.
Also new on Friday was the presence of counter protesters. Turtleboy nemesis Kate Peter and Turtleboy ex-girlfriend Lindsay Gaetani led a group of counter protesters through the crowd of Karen Read supporters during the lunch break.
The group was heavily featured in interviews by the press during the lunch break as it was the first sign of active counter protesters carrying signs and chanting at the gathering. While their presence did not disrupt the tailgating experience for those assembled to support Read, it showed that there were indeed those who thought Read was guilty of her charges.
Turtleboy Kearney would later release a statement that the vast majority of the protesters used to either work for him or be part of the free Karen Read movement. He implied that they were there more to protest against him than in support of their belief that Read was guilty.
Deliberations resume on Monday.
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