Karen Read retrial jurors could enter deliberations possibly this week as the defense’s case has already doubled its length from last year.

“They’ve presented a lot more evidence than most murder defendants,” retired state Superior Court Judge Jack Lu told the Herald on Saturday. He later added, “Many put up little or no evidence and rely on the Commonwealth’s case and reasonable doubt.”

“As an abstract matter it is desirable for the defendant to give the government a run for their money,” Lu, who now teaches legal courses at UMass Lowell, New England Law and others, continued. “On the other hand, those other short defense presentations may be short for a reason — that a large target is an easy target.”

Read, 45, of Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing death. She’s accused of slamming her Lexus LX570 SUV into her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, and leaving him to freeze and die on a Canton, Massachusetts, front lawn on Jan. 29, 2022.

It’s been 11 months since the mistrial and in the time between then and when this new trial began in earnest on April 22, Read’s defense orchestrated a multi-pronged effort to have her case — or at least the murder charge — tossed.

Those efforts were denied by the trial judge, Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court, the state U.S. District Court, the federal appeals court and, finally, by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Last Tuesday the defense tried for a mistrial after they argued special prosecutor Hank Brennan had overstepped his legal limits during cross-examination. Judge Beverly J. Cannone denied the motion and the defense continued its case, calling its fifth witness later that day.

The attorneys in this case are under gag orders and so their trial plans are not telegraphed. But at a total of eight witnesses already called over five days — and at least one more promised — the defense’s presentation has already blown past last year’s.

Last year they called a total of six witnesses across two days. They’ve called all of them back in this new trial so far save for a retired medical examiner named Dr. Frank Sheridan and a digital forensics expert named Richard Green — who testified to a woman named Jennifer McCabe making a search for “hos long to die in cold” at 2:27 a.m., which is a key detail in support of the defense’s theory of a third-party killer and ensuing conspiracy to frame Read.

The defense also has yet to call Andrew Rentschler, a biomechanist from the engineering consultancy firm ARCCA, who testified last year. But his ARCCA colleague Daniel Wolfe was called on Friday and is expected back for more testimony on Monday. During his Friday testimony he repeatedly referred to Rentschler and what he “will” testify to, promising Rentschler’s return.

While the defense case has greatly expanded, new prosecutor Brennan shortened the prosecution’s case by a full work week: 28 days down to 23 days.

A notable change from last year is calling fewer first responders and dropping an entire angle of positioning the O’Keefe-Read relationship as collapsing — the trip the couple took to Aruba just weeks before O’Keefe’s death, which witnesses said included Read having making a jealousy-fueled major scene.

But most notably was his removal of case officer Trooper Michael Proctor, who has since been fired from the Massachusetts State Police primarily for bad behavior in this case.

When the prosecution rested its case on May 29, Read told reporters outside of the courthouse that the defense’s case will take a week and a half to two weeks. There are already five days down.

Will the defense call Proctor themselves? Read says “TBD,” or “to be determined.” Will she herself testify? That’s also “TBD,” she said outside of court.

Hints in court filings, like a jury instruction about the defendant not testifying is just “boilerplate” she said more recently.

“I’m ambivalent,” she said Monday after court, “and by ambivalent I could get on board with either one.”

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