After Karen Learn was acquitted earlier this week on homicide and manslaughter costs within the dying of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, her dad and mom advised WBZ-TV they’re now targeted on attempting to get again to regular.
For greater than two years, it has been a life-changing time for Invoice and Janet Learn. On Wednesday, their daughter was acquitted of probably the most severe costs in O’Keefe’s dying.
“The fifth lawyer”
“We really feel virtually like we must always know the way we really feel however we do not,” Janet Learn mentioned.
“Coming to grips with the thought, that the concern that we may lose Karen to incarceration given the costs is now gone, that concern has abated,” mentioned Invoice Learn, who added he and her mom weren’t mentally getting ready for that.
“We all the time mentioned let’s not go too far out in our ideas, let’s maintain daily,” mentioned Janet Learn.
The Reads mentioned they received their power from Karen, who they referred to as the “fifth lawyer” within the case, chasing down each angle.
“She’s decided, she’s targeted, very shiny, she received us by means of this,” mentioned Invoice Learn. “She was the fifth lawyer.”
What does future maintain for Karen?
When requested what Karen’s future holds, together with probably writing a guide, Janet Learn responded, “Perhaps. She’s a superb author, she’s all the time been. I all the time thought she ought to go into journalism and she or he needed finance.”
Learn’s dad and mom admit her life won’t ever be the identical, given the notoriety of the case that was, at occasions, greater than hurtful.
“People who made misogynistic feedback, dehumanizing her, objectifying her sexuality and the like,” mentioned Invoice Learn.
They mentioned the case has additionally moved them from a extra insulated life.
“From today ahead, we acknowledge we had been lucky however we had been blessed by the almighty that this, we had been capable of have this and now it is crucial that others need assistance, that we will communicate out,” mentioned Invoice Learn.
Juror talks to WBZ-TV
One juror who spoke to WBZ-TV mentioned there have been too many inconsistencies and a scarcity of proof to convict Learn.
“I simply realized that there was too could holes that we could not fill and there is nothing that might put her on the scene, in our opinion, moreover simply dropping John O’Keefe off,” mentioned juror Paula Prado. “And the taillight, the accidents to his arm, did not make a lot sense to return from a taillight.”
Gov. Healey weighs in
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a former lawyer normal, supplied her tackle the decision Friday.
“I all the time mirror on the household of John O’Keefe and I really feel very sorry for them,” mentioned Healey. “However the legal justice system has run its course and there may be finality in that.”
The Reads mentioned they know the query of who’s liable for O’Keefe’s dying stays unanswered, a solution they hope sooner or later is discovered.
“Is it a loss? Indubitably,” mentioned Invoice Learn. “Do I really feel sorrow for the O’Keefe household and mates? In fact. Do I feel we’ll know the reply sometime? I suppose in my coronary heart of hearts I do.”
Tara Kerrigan, a good friend of O’Keefe’s who was in court docket day by day for each of Learn’s trials, launched a press release Friday calling the decision “one of the egregious miscarriages of justice in current historical past.”
Learn nonetheless faces a civil wrongful dying go well with filed by the O’Keefe household.