Although Read was convicted of driving under the influence, her acquittal on the counts of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident marked a significant legal triumph.

As a first-time offender of operating a vehicle under the influence, Read will serve just one year of probation, Judge Beverly Cannone ruled.

He was not called to testify in the second trial.

Prosecutors aimed to challenge this allegation by calling witnesses who testified that, regardless of the investigator’s statements, he neither altered evidence nor attempted to falsely implicate Read.

Read herself did not take the stand to testify, though she appeared to toy with the idea as prosecutors played clip after clip taken from her media interviews in an effort to use her words against her by highlighting inconsistencies in her statements.

In some, Read appeared to entertain the possibility her vehicle had made contact with O’Keefe.

But she rejected the idea in others, including from a documentary series produced by Investigation Discovery (CNN and Investigation Discovery share the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery).

“I did not drive my car into John,” she said.

“Didn’t reverse it. Did not hit John with my car. There is zero chance this is an accident. There is zero chance John was hit by a vehicle.”