Hundreds of mostly exiled Tibetans celebrate the Dalai Lama's 89th birthday in India's Dharamshala

DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — Hundreds of mostly exiled Tibetans gathered in India’s hillside town of Dharamshala to celebrate the birthday of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, who turned 89 on Saturday.

The Dalai Lama has made the hillside town his headquarters since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Representatives of a Tibetan government-in-exile also reside there.

The main celebrations took place in Tsuglagkhang temple inside the complex where the spiritual leader lives. Tibetan and Buddhist flags adorned poles and railings.

A volunteer distributed Indian sweets to exiled Tibetan Buddhist nuns as teachers helped children with their make-up as they prepared to perform traditional dances.

While a colorful three-tiered cake was cut inside the temple, schoolchildren sang: “Happy Birthday His Holiness.”

Artists from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, dressed in traditional attire, played the drums and some marched with bagpipes inside the complex, drawing cheers and applause from the crowd. Then, Indian and Tibetan flags were hoisted, as the band played the two national anthems.

Tibetan and Indian officials sat on a slightly raised platform as photos of the Dalai Lama, some from his childhood, hung on pillars around them.

The Dalai Lama, however, wasn’t present. He is currently in the U.S. where he has undergone a knee replacement, according to his secretary.

Addressing the gathering on Saturday, Penpa Tsering, the president of the Tibetan government-in-exile, announced that several events commemorating the Dalai Lama’s achievements would be held throughout the year.

China doesn't recognize the exiled Tibetan government and hasn’t held any dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama since 2010.

Last month, a group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers met with the Dalai Lama at his Dharamshala residence, sparking anger from China which views the exiled leader of Tibetan Buddhism as a dangerous separatist.

The Dalai Lama denies being a separatist and says he only advocates substantial autonomy and protection of Tibet’s native Buddhist culture.

India considers Tibet to be part of China, though it hosts Tibetan exiles.

Exiled Tibetan school girls in a traditional costumes eat cakes and sweets as they wait to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

An exiled Tibetan wears an amulet with a portrait of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama before he performs a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of the spiritual leader at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exiled Tibetan monks carry ceremonial offerings at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Penpa Tsering, President of Central Tibetan Administration, right, pays his respects in front of a ceremonial chair of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of the spiral leader at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exiled Tibetans in ceremonial outfits wait to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

An exiled Tibetan applies eyeliner to another as they wait to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exiled Tibetan children in ceremonial outfits wait to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

A large cake sits on a decorated table as Tibetan and Indian officials stand for their national anthems at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exile Tibetans in a ceremonial dress perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exiled Tibetans sit in front of a large Tibetan flag at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exiled Tibetans watch a cultural performance from a balcony at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

A young exiled Tibetan girl gets her lips painted by her teacher before she performs a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exiled Tibetan children in ceremonial outfits look on from a balcony as they wait to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exiled Tibetans in a ceremonial outfits eat cakes as they wait to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exiled Tibetan school children and volunteers put cakes on paper plates before distributing them to a gathering at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

A volunteer distributes Indian sweets to exile Tibetan Buddhist nuns at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

A band from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts plays at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Exiled Tibetan school girls in a traditional costumes eat cakes and sweets as they wait to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Two boys in a traditional costumes wait for their turn to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Tsering Dolma, a school girl, gets ready to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The second murder trial of Karen Read, whose case has sparked a national debate on police accountability and won her legions of devoted fans, began with opening statements Tuesday, more than three years after the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.

Read is accused of striking her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die alone in the snow outside of a house party in Canton, a suburb about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Boston. She has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene.

During the first trial last year, prosecutors said Read intentionally backed into O’Keefe after she dropped him off at a house party and returned hours later to find him dead. The defense said that she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.

A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile.

The biggest difference in the current trial is the lead prosecutor, Hank Brennan. Brought in as a special prosecutor after the mistrial, the former defense attorney has represented a number of prominent clients, including notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger.

Brennan began his opening statement Tuesday by describing the firefighter who raced to the scene in near-blizzard conditions and found Read and two other women surrounding O’Keefe’s body on the ground.

“He stepped out into bedlam,” he said.

The firefighter then asked Read what had happened, he said.

“You’ll hear her words, ’I hit him. I hit him. I hit him,” Brennan said. “She admitted what she had done that night.”

After the first trial, the defense unsuccessfully moved to have two of the charges dismissed after they said several jurors came forward to say the group was unanimous in finding Read not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from Read to delay her trial on double jeopardy grounds.

Many of the factors that made the first trial must-see television will feature in the second. Most of the the same witnesses are back as are Read’s aggressive defense team and dozens of her supporters camped out near the courthouse — many carrying “Free Karen Read” signs and wearing pink. Read, who has been featured in several documentaries about her case, has become a minor celebrity.

A few dozen of Read's supporters, many holding American flags, stood in front of the courthouse Tuesday morning before moving a block away to comply with a court-ordered buffer zone. Those who were reuniting hugged each other, while others took time to bring newcomers up to speed on the case.

“I'm here for justice,” said Ashlyn Wade, a Read supporter from Canton. “The murderer going to jail and Karen being exonerated, that would be justice.”

The prosecution, however, stands to benefit from a pretrial ruling from Judge Beverly Cannone that defense attorneys can’t mention potential third-party culprits in their opening statements. They can develop a case against two law enforcement officers but cannot implicate Albert’s nephew, Colin Albert, as they did in the first trial.

“I view it as a blow to the defense strategy but not a knockout punch,” Daniel Medwed, a law professor at Northeastern University, said of the ruling. “All the defense needs to do is create reasonable doubt about Karen (Read's) guilt, and that doesn’t require pointing to an alternative perpetrator as a matter of law.”

Legal experts expect prosecutors to focus on Read's behavior as they did during the first trial — her volatile relationship with O'Keefe and their night of heavy drinking. They also predict the prosecution will lay out a stronger and more coherent case that Read clipped O'Keefe with the back of her SUV and sent him tumbling to the ground — using data from her car, video and stronger expert testimony.

“The Commonwealth will focus on the theme drilled into us since middle school — Drinking, Driving, Deadly Consequences,” Michael Coyne, the dean of Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, said in an email, adding that he expects prosecutors to avoid mistakes of the first trial, where several of their early witnesses appeared to help the defense more than the state.

The defense is expected to offer evidence that what they see as a sloppy police investigation was biased and that law enforcement officers set Read up to protect the real killers. They could be helped by an audit of the Canton Police Department released last month that found several mistakes with the investigation — although no evidence of a cover-up.

One of the key witnesses will be former State Trooper Michael Proctor. He led the investigation but has since been fired after a disciplinary board found that he sent sexist and crude texts about Read to his family and colleagues.

“Michael Proctor and his dismissal from the force may very well serve as the elephant in the courtroom throughout the proceedings," Medwed said.

Supporters of Karen Read gather outside Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Judge Beverly Cannone listens in Norfolk Superior Court during Karen Read's trial on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)

Karen Read and her defense team appear in Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)

Prosecutor Hank Brennan arrives for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)