June 19, 2025

Opinion Diagnostics, a Massachusetts-based polling and market research firm, conducted a scientific and statistically representative poll of 1,170 Norfolk County residents who meet the qualifications to be selected as jurors. These respondents were asked their opinions about Commonwealth v. Karen Read, which concluded yesterday when Read was acquitted of manslaughter charges. The poll was entirely conducted the night of June 18 in the hours after the verdict was announced.

Media inquiries can be directed to Brian Wynne at brian@opiniondiagnostics.com

Topline Results: Click here to download

ClearTabs™: Click here to download

Results

• 93% of Norfolk County eligible jurors are familiar with the Karen Read case, including 61% who followed the second trial very or somewhat closely.

• Only 6% of eligible jurors who were familiar with the case believe Read should have been found guilty of manslaughter. 54% who are familiar with the case believe she is totally innocent of manslaughter. The remainder would have acquitted Read because of reasonable doubts about her guilt, or are unsure.

•  68% of all eligible jurors in Norfolk County believe that the preponderance of the evidence does NOT show Karen Read is liable for wrongful death. That number is even higher - 73% - among those who are familiar with the case. It is unlikely that a jury seated for a civil trial will find Read liable based on the evidence presented in her two criminal trials.
  
  In fact, there is only a 1 in 869,000 chance that a randomly selected jury in a civil trial would contain twelve jurors who are not among the 68% who have already decided that Ms. Read is not liable. Even if using the more favorable odds derived from the criminal trial, there is only a 1 in 4,100 chance of seating twelve jurors who are not among the 50% of all eligible jurors in Norfolk County that believe Read is "totally innocent".

• 64% of eligible jurors familiar with the case believe that someone other than Karen Read killed John O'Keefe.

• 63% of eligible jurors familiar with the case believe that evidence was planted to help ensure Read was convicted.

• 61% of eligible jurors familiar with the case believe some of O'Keefe's injuries were caused by a dog. Only 11% of those respondents believe some of O'Keefe's injuries were caused by a motor vehicle strike.
  
  

• Just 9% believe that the investigation conducted by the Norfolk County D.A.'s office and Massachusetts State Police was "full, thorough, and fair."

• Current, former, and elected officials in Norfolk County's criminal justice system have lost public support.

  • Just 18% of eligible jurors familiar with the case approve of Judge Beverly Cannone's adjudication of Commonwealth v. Read.

  • 76% agree with the MSP's decision to fire lead investigator Michael Proctor.

  • Only 4% of Norfolk County's registered voters affirmatively believe District Attorney Mike Morrissey deserves re-election in 2026. 

• 60% of eligible Norfolk County jurors closely followed the second trial of Commonwealth v. Read, a small uptick from the 58% who closely followed the first trial. While social media like Facebook (27%), X (24%), and TikTok (19%) were important sources of information for those following the second trial, legacy media like local TV and newspapers continued to be the top sources for information. 

• 70% of those familiar with the case and 65% of all eligible jurors believed the jury reached the correct verdict in acquitting Read of Manslaughter but finding her guilty of OUI. A 55% majority of those familiar with the case believed Read had driven drunk, including a majority of those who otherwise believed she was totally innocent of manslaughter. 

• Commonwealth v. Karen Read has seriously harmed trust in Massachusetts' institutions among these respondents. 57% of those familiar with the case have less confidence in the "Criminal justice system of Massachustts", 65% have less confidence in the Massachusetts State Police, 63% have less confidence in the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office, and 39% have less confidence in their own city or town's local police department.

Methodology

The poll was not commissioned by nor did it have any external sponsors. It was drafted, conducted, and disseminated without input or feedback from any external party related to the case. Opinion Diagnostics typically internally commissions and disseminates two or three surveys per year on issues of public interest, such as this case.

The survey was fielded on June 18, 2025 from 5pm to 11:59pm, after the jury reached a verdict in Commonwealth v. Karen Read. Potential respondents were randomly selected from a database of Norfolk County residents and contacted via SMS messages that led to a web-based survey. The hyperlink in each SMS contained a nine-character alphanumeric unique identifier to ensure the survey could only be taken a single time by a single person using that link: 161 responses were eliminated as duplicates or for invalid UIDs, indicating respondents took the survey multiple times or attempted to share the survey in an unscientific way (i.e. on social media). Respondents were screened for residency within Norfolk County, United States citizenship status, and age to ensure they met the qualifications to serve as a juror in Norfolk County. Results were weighted using an iterative proportional fitting process to match the known attributes of the Norfolk County juror pool on the variables of gender, age, ethnicity, educational attainment, geographic area within Norfolk county, and blended voter registration status/partisanship. This weighting model was created using data sourced from the United States Census Bureau American Community Survey Public Use Microdata, as well as the Massachusetts Division of Elections. The final sample of qualified respondents is n=1,170 eligible Norfolk County jurors, and the survey has a margin of error of ±2.9% with 95% confidence.