BOSTON – A Massachusetts judge on Monday dismissed criminal charges against a supporter of Karen Read who admitted to placing dozens of yellow rubber ducks and counterfeit $100 bills around the city in support of Read.

Richard Schiffer Jr. had argued in Stoughton District Court that he had a right under the First Amendment to support the defense theory that Read — accused of hitting into her boyfriend John O’Keefe with his SUV and leaving the Boston police officer to die in a snowstorm — was framed in the polarizing murder case.

Schiffer’s attorney, Timothy Bradl, said Monday that the judge did the right thing by quickly dropping the witness intimidation and stalking charges against Schiffer.

The decision comes as another judge ruled Monday to push Read’s retrial until April after a mistrial » was declared in July when the jurors had not reached an agreement. Read faced second degree murder charges and two other charges. His lawyers argued that other law enforcement officers were responsible for O’Keefe’s death.

Regarding Schiffer’s accusations, Bradl said: “There was no leg to stand on. »

“Hats off to the judge. He didn’t keep everyone waiting and ruled from the bench. Everything was fully protected by the First Amendment. It was a political speech,” Bradl said.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

Schiffer said he came up with the idea for the ducks after thinking about a defense attorney’s closing argument that The reading was supervised. Alan Jackson told jurors that “if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he’s a duck.”

Schiffer’s actions did not rise to the level of witness intimidation and stalking, “nor did his speech, or in this case, his writings about counterfeit money and the use of rubber toys, which benefit protections of the First Amendment,” said Judge Brian Walsh. wrote.

“The Court finds that Defendant’s conduct and speech, although a rather sophomoric expression of his opinion, nevertheless constitutes protected speech,” he wrote.

Walsh concluded the two-page ruling with quotes from Indiana poet James Whitcomb Riley, who is said to have coined the phrase “walk like a duck,” and Robert McCloskey, author of the children’s book “Make Way For Ducklings.” .

The defense alleged that O’Keefe was actually killed at the home of fellow Boston officer Brian Albert and then dragged outside. They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient stranger” which saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects.

Schiffer is one of dozens of Read the supporters who accuse state and local law enforcement of a widespread cover-up. Their protests gave rise to clashes, notably in the town of Canton where the murder took place, between those who support Read and others who believe she is guilty.

Schiffer, who owns Canton Fence and said he knows virtually everyone in town through his work as a contractor, was accused of placing some ducks in front of a pizzeria run by Brian Albert’s brother, Canton Selectman Chris Albert. More ducks appeared in O’Keefe’s neighborhood.