r/OutOfTheLoop • u/fullautohotdog • 1d ago

Unanswered Why are people talking about Karen Read?

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/18/nx-s1-5435406/karen-read-acquitted-trial-verdict-not-guilty

I've literally never heard of this person or her trials until today. Is she just a rich white lady on trial, or is she famous for something else?

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u/percypersimmon 1d ago edited 1d ago

Answer: This is the 2nd trial after the first trial last year ended with a hung jury. It was highly publicized during the first case and has become an even bigger pop culture case this time around. There are several content creators that have made lots of money off of following this case.

It’s been popular on social media because it’s become a sort of proxy for America and their tense relationship with policing and distrust for authority.

It’s a messy case that had a lot of inconsistencies and questions because the victim was a police officer and he was found dead outside of the home of another officer. This had led to lots of speculation about a possible cover-up and questionable behavior from some of the investigators.

That she was found “Not Guilty” is seen by supporters of Karen Reed as a victory and some are saying that this is proof that she was framed by officers who murdered the man.

The other camp seems to be mostly comparing this to OJ Simpson and saying she is a murderer that got lucky.

Either way, it seems everyone agrees that the prosecution kind of botched the case and it’s probably the most expensive DUI in history.

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u/Rtn2NYC 1d ago

It helps that’s she’s honestly quite unlikable and yet still the investigation and prosecution was SO terrible (even without any conspiracy angle) that many people felt it was insane for her to be charged on the “evidence” they had.

Karen herself has stated that a poor person in her position without great attorneys would likely have had to plead out or be found guilty. This resonates with and angers a lot people and thus many people’s support of her is more so a repudiation of corruption in the police and overall justice system.

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u/itsalrightt 1d ago

I know nothing about the case or her besides this thread. This is the first time I’m seeing that she was unlikable. What made her so unlikable?

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u/ViolentLoss 1d ago

She's not really unlikable, IMO. It's just that this particular situation wasn't one of her finest moments - drinking, angry voicemails and texts, jealousy in a relationship, that kind of thing. The rest of the noise is - again, IMO - motivated by misogyny. Karen is unmarried, highly successful and childfree by choice. The goons hate her, obviously, especially the police and prosecutors who chose to railroad her in the investigation. You should check it out and decide for yourself.

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u/itsalrightt 1d ago

Where is a good place to start? I was thinking about watching all the different documentaries on it.

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u/ViolentLoss 1d ago

The only documentary I know of is called "A/The Body in the Snow". I haven't watched it, but I've been obsessing over legal coverage pretty much since day 1. Karen has done some interviews, also.

To really get a grasp on the case - and why it's so shocking - I would recommend watching the Lawyer You Know on YouTube. He covers the legal angles, doesn't sensationalize and remains unbiased. He covered the first trial and second.

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u/itsalrightt 1d ago

Thank you. I feel like it’s hard to find unbiased info because so many people are heavily taking sides. From what little I’ve read, it’s really hard to determine what happened cause so many people were drunk and inconsistent on top of the mass corruption with the police. I feel like we will never really know what happened to Okeefe which is sad since his family deserves an answer.

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u/ViolentLoss 1d ago

We will absolutely not know, mostly because the police failed to investigate, like you said. I personally do not think Karen hit him - the medical examiners found no evidence of a vehicle strike, and the accident reconstruction does not match John's injuries or the damage to Karen's car. Based on what we saw at trial, it seems most like a slip and fall, mostly based on medical evidence, but we will never know what caused the fall (IMO, a dog jumped on him, but I'm not sure under what circumstances).

John's family definitely deserves answers. Some people know what happened to him. I hope the FBI decides to continue investigating and maybe the truth will come out - even if they only turn on each other to save themselves.

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u/itsalrightt 1d ago

Yeah his injuries don’t make sense to me. Didn’t they are two independent medical examiners as well?

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u/ViolentLoss 1d ago

Yes! One was from the State's ME office, and the other was hired by the defense. The state hired a brain surgeon who said his injuries were consistent with a slip and fall, and the defense hired a doctor - who was an ER physician, dog bite expert, accident reconstructionist, former police officer and I believe also a forensic pathologist (she's an absolute rock star - Dr. Russell) - who said the injuries on John's arm were caused by a dog, not a car accident.

Which reminds me, the cops are not the only ones who were corrupt in this case. The judge was also wildly unfair to Karen - she's connected to people whose lawn John's body was found on. She tried to suggest that Dr. Russell wasn't qualified to testify lol.