Crime
“It ought to be an outrage to any respectable particular person, and it must cease. Innuendo is just not proof. False narratives should not proof.”
The Norfolk County district lawyer issued a uncommon video assertion Friday condemning the harassment of a number of witnesses concerned within the prosecution of Karen Learn, who’s charged with killing her boyfriend in 2022.
In his out-of-court remarks, District Lawyer Michael Morrissey emphatically pushed again on the frenzied conspiracy theories which have come to characterize Learn’s case, stating outright that a number of witnesses had been to not blame for Boston police officer John O’Keefe’s loss of life.
“This would be the first assertion of its variety in my dozen years as Norfolk district lawyer. The harassment of witnesses within the homicide prosecution of Karen Learn is completely baseless,” Morrissey mentioned within the video. “It ought to be an outrage to any respectable particular person, and it must cease. Innuendo is just not proof. False narratives should not proof.”
Conflicting narratives within the Karen Learn case
Prosecutors say Learn backed her automotive into O’Keefe and left him to die within the snow whereas dropping him off at a fellow Boston police officer’s dwelling in Canton in January 2022.
The Mansfield lady has pleaded not responsible to fees of second-degree homicide, motorcar manslaughter whereas driving below the affect, and leaving the scene of a collision inflicting damage and loss of life.
Her legal professionals argue that Learn was framed, suggesting that O’Keefe was severely overwhelmed inside the house, attacked by the home-owner’s canine, and left exterior.
Nonetheless, Morrissey maintained that proof reveals O’Keefe by no means entered the house at 34 Fairview Street in Canton on the evening he died. He additionally famous that an post-mortem concluded O’Keefe’s accidents weren’t the results of a battle, nor an animal assault.
“Eleven folks have given statements that they didn’t see John O’Keefe enter the house at 34 Fairview [Road] that evening,” the DA mentioned. “Zero folks have mentioned that they noticed him enter the house. Zero. Nobody.”
Boston.com has reached out to Learn’s attorneys for touch upon Morrissey’s assertion.
‘They’re merely witnesses’
Morrissey additionally shot down claims that the home-owner, Brian Albert, and several other of his family members had been concerned in killing O’Keefe or that that they had engaged in a cover-up.
“These folks weren’t a part of a conspiracy and definitely didn’t commit homicide or any crime that evening,” the DA mentioned. “They’ve been forthcoming with authorities, supplied statements, and haven’t engaged in any cover-up. They aren’t suspects in any crime — they’re merely witnesses within the case.”
He added: “To have them accused of homicide is outrageous. To have them harassed and intimidated based mostly on false narratives and accusations is flawed. They’re witnesses doing what our justice system asks of them.”
Morrissey’s assertion additionally touched on Michael Proctor, a Massachusetts State Police trooper who a few of Learn’s most ardent defenders have accused of planting proof on the scene. The DA mentioned Proctor had no shut private relationship with anybody concerned within the investigation, nor was he on the scene the day O’Keefe died.
“I’m asking the Canton neighborhood and everybody who feels invested on this case to listen to the entire precise proof at trial earlier than assigning guilt to individuals who have carried out nothing flawed,” Morrissey mentioned. “And definitely earlier than taking it upon your self to harass residents who, proof reveals, have carried out nothing on this matter however come ahead and bear witness.”
Earlier this summer time, prosecutors tried and didn’t safe a gag order that will have barred Learn’s attorneys from talking about sure facets of the case exterior the courtroom, arguing that the legal professionals’ feedback fueled an invasion of witnesses’ privateness.
On Friday, Morrissey referred to as the conspiracy allegations “utterly opposite to the proof and a determined try to re-assign guilt.”
“We strive folks within the courtroom and never on the web for a motive,” the DA mentioned. “The web has no guidelines of proof. The web has no punishment for perjury. And the web doesn’t know all of the information.”
Watch the total video of Morrissey’s remarks, by way of NBC10 Boston:
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