In their own response, prosecutors restated their claim that without a public verdict, Karen Read was not acquitted on any charge.

The state's highest court may have to determine whether the jury in Karen Read's trial was truly deadlocked or led astray from acquitting her of murder. Why it matters: The high-profile Read case is raising broader questions about whether someone can be retried without it counting as double jeopardy.

The ACLU has jumped into the Karen Read Supreme Judicial Court fight on the side of the accused murderer. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts filed a brief in Read’s appeal to Massachusetts’ highest court to have two of the three charges against her — including second-degree murder — dropped in her second trial scheduled for January.

The trial court had a clear path to avoid an erroneous mistrial: simply ask the jurors to confirm whether a verdict had been reached on any count,” the ACLU wrote.

Prosecutors in the Karen Read murder case said they’ve filed their response to her appeal to have two counts in her murder case dropped. The ACLU has also weighed in.