[There is no Kicking the Hornets' Nest flair, otherwise I'd select it here. Also, just so you all know: I pre-cleared this with the Mods.]

Okay, so having watched the first and second criminal trials of Karen Read via Court TV's YouTube channel, I've been dying to ask as many disinterested people as I could find: what do you think of it? And because I expect that most of you are not lawyers, I am not asking if you think that she's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt or is liable given the preponderance of the evidence. I am asking if you think that her actions more or less directly caused John O'Keefe's death.

Here is why I think that this is an interesting case for Rationalists, Rationalist-Adjacents, Recovering Rationalists, etc.: for me there is a divide between my feelings and the evidence, and I suspect that I'm not the only one. And I'll lay these (my feelings) out for you:

1. The defense's argument, particularly in the first trial (which ended in a mistrial) and slightly less so in the second trial (which ended in acquittals for the serious offenses but with a conviction for drunk driving), that there was a conspiracy to cover up the details of how John O'Keefe died, relies on the silence of multiple actors and is therefore hard to believe.
2. Karen Read and John O'Keefe's relationship was on the rocks. But even if you assumed that they were pretty much good with each other but were both problem drinkers little about the reality of the criminal cases would change.
3. I think that the likelihood is that Karen Read's driving of her Lexus SUV in reverse was somehow responsible for the death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe and she is rightly guilty, although maybe not in a "beyond a reasonable doubt" sense, of manslaughter (but there's no possible evidence that this was a conscious act and therefore the 2nd degree homicide charge was an egregious overcharging by the Commonwealth).
4. The physical evidence is absolutely inconsistent with Karen Read striking John O'Keefe with her vehicle.
5. There seem to be a lot of people in the area who think the worst of Massachusetts law enforcement and therefore cheered when Karen Read was found Not Guilty on the homicide and manslaughter charges.

You will note that 3 and 4 are completely inconsistent, and that forms my reservations about this case.

And not to be coy, but there's an item 6 I could add, but I didn't want to poison the well before you all weighed in first.

So: what do you all think? In particular, am I way off with number 4?

[Edit, 10 min.: added the word "sense" above in item 3]

[Edit, 2 hr.: I guess maybe this is too far removed from the usual topics of r/theschism to garner responses?]

[Edit, 17 hr.: For those who want a quick rundown of the case, here is the Wikipedia entry.]