By Striding into the courthouse day after day with sharp tailoring on display and her bicoastal legal team by her side, more closely resembles a Sheryl Sandberg-esque boardroom power player than a woman on trial for murder. In a case chock full of bombastic rhetoric and loud speculation, those following Read’s trial say the defendant’s styling choices send a firm, but unspoken, message: “I am a force to be reckoned with.” Read tends to favor more structured silhouettes and often wears darker colors to court, which might signal to jurors that she is “powerful, unafraid,” said Andrew Caple-Shaw, who leads a team of trial consultants as managing partner of the firm .
“The defense strategy seems to be that there’s a conspiracy, and ‘we’re positioning ourselves to fight the conspiracy,’” he said. “That’s the only rationale I can find for the approach that she’s taking in terms of the way she’s dressing and carrying herself, is that she’s framing herself as some kind of hero taking on a conspiracy.” Read’s facial expressions during her trial and assertive engagement with the media also feed into that narrative, Caple-Shaw said.
“There’s an overall persona that she’s very much pushing that is not what one would normally do in a case like this,” he added. Of course, “unusual” is the watchword when it comes to Read’s case. The 44-year-old is accused of backing her SUV into Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, her boyfriend of two ye.
