Attorney for notorious mobster Whitey Bulger to lead new prosecution of Karen Read

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The man who defended late Boston mobster-turned-FBI informant James “Whitey” Bulger has been tapped to lead the prosecution at Karen Read’s upcoming retrial.

Attorney Hank Brennan, who represented Bulger, will serve as special assistant district attorney when Read’s retrial begins on January 27.

Read, 44, is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, by backing her SUV over him after a night of drinking in January 2022. She faces charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

“Attorney Brennan is a highly respected and skilled former prosecutor and long-time defense attorney with over 25 years of experience in state and federal courts and has expertise handling complex law enforcement matters,” Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Wednesday.

Brennan worked to defend Bulger, who was captured in 2011 after spending 16 years on the run. In 2013 he went to trial in federal court on 32 counts of racketeering and firearms possession. The racketeering charges linked him to 19 murders, and Bulger was ultimately found guilty on 31 of the 32 charges and was sentenced to two life sentences plus five years.

The FBI said at the time that Bulger had been an informant for them on occassion — a claim Bulger denied — and the mob boss was eventually murdered shortly after he was transfered to the US Pentientiary in Hazelton, West Virginia in 2018.

Brennan — now back in service to the state — will join the prosecutors who worked Read’s first trial earlier this year.

Lally and McLaughlin helmed the prosecution during Read’s first trial, which ended in a mistrial in July after a jury could not reach a verdict.

Read’s defense team has alleged that she was framed and that the true culprits were others at a house party that O’Keefe attended on the night of his death, according to Boston.com. Her defense has alleged that O’Keefe was severely beaten and killed inside the home of Brian Albert, a fellow police officer, and was then dragged outside into the snow, where he was discovered the following morning.

Read’s defense attorneys are attempting to have the second-degree murder charge, and the charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, dismissed. Her defense has said that the first, deadlocked jury had internally agreed to acquit her of those charges, had they reached a conclusion regarding the vehicular manslaughter charge.

Judge Beverly Cannone ruled in August that Read’s retrial would not consider the jury’s alleged internal agreement, but her attorneys are appealing the ruling.

Read is represented by attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti. Jackson said he believes that the District Attorney’s decision to bring in an outside prosecutor is evidence that they have a weak case.

“The news that Michael Morrissey has decided to use taxpayer funds to hire an outside lawyer to prosecute this case speaks volumes about his confidence in his own team,” Jackson told NBC10 Boston on Wednesday. “They can bring anyone they want to court. We will beat this unjust prosecution, just like we did the last time. Like we’ve said to Mr Morrissey previously, do your worst, we’ll see you in court.”

In addition to serving as Bulger’s defense attorney, Brennan was a prosecutor in both Essex and Suffolk counties, and now works as an adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law School.

“I assume full responsibility and all obligations for prosecuting this case and will do so meticulously, ethically, and zealously, without compromise,” he said in a statement following his appointment.