Karen Read seeks delay in wrongful death lawsuit until her trial on murder and other charges is done

[October 05, 2024]  By MICHAEL CASEY

BOSTON (AP) — Karen Read is seeking to delay a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of her Boston police officer boyfriend until her criminal trial in connection with his death is done.

The lawsuit filed last month blames the death of John O’Keefe on Read, and also on what it describes as negligence by bars that continued to serve drinks to her despite signs she was drunk. It says the first bar served her seven alcoholic drinks in about 90 minutes the night of Jan. 28, 2022, and that Read carried the last drink into the second bar, where she was served a shot and a mixed alcoholic drink within an hour.

Read's attorneys on Wednesday filed a motion to delay a trial on the lawsuit until after her criminal trial. Read is accused of ramming into John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him for dead in a January 2022 snowstorm. Her two-month trial ended in July when a judge declared a mistrial, and a second trial is scheduled for Jan. 27.

“A stay is appropriate here, where proceeding with this civil action at the same time as the criminal action will adversely affect Ms. Read's Fifth Amendment rights and her ability to vigorously defense herself from criminal prosecution,” her lawyers wrote in the motion. They added that her requested stay is “minimal and not prejudicial” because the wrongful death lawsuit is not expected to be finished until at least August 2027.

But an attorney for O'Keefe's brother, Paul, and other relatives who filed the lawsuit oppose any delays and suggested the reliance on the Fifth Amendment ignored the fact she has has spoken publicly about her case several times to the media and will be subject of at least one upcoming documentary.

“Ms. Read consistently and voluntarily disregards her Fifth Amendment privilege as she attempts to craft her own narrative and poison the jury pool for both her criminal and civil cases,” Paul O'Keefe's attorney, Marc Diller, wrote. “In light of her open willingness to speak publicly, Ms. Read's current reliance on her Fifth Amendment right to silence appears to be less about avoiding self-incrimination and more about controlling the narrative to suit her interest.”

The lawsuit filed in Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts by Paul O’Keefe on behalf of his family and his brother’s estate names Read, the Waterfall Bar & Grill and C.F. McCarthy’s as defendants. It asks for a jury trial.

Karen Read waits for her court case to resume at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool, File)

On Friday, an attorney from Waterfall Bar & Grill filed a response, denying the allegations.

Read has pleaded not guilty and awaits retrial on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Her two-month criminal trial ended in July when the judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked. The judge dismissed arguments that jurors later said they had unanimously agreed Read wasn’t guilty on the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene.

Read has appealed the ruling to the state's highest court. On Friday, the Supreme Judicial Court announced oral arguments would be held Nov. 6 in her bid to dismiss the two charges.

After the bar-hopping, Read — a former adjunct professor at Bentley College — dropped off O’Keefe, a 16-year member of the Boston police, outside the Canton home of another police officer. His body was found in the front yard. An autopsy found O’Keefe died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.

Read’s lawyers argued that O’Keefe was killed inside the home and that those involved chose to frame her because she was a “convenient outsider.”

The lawsuit says Read and O’Keefe had been arguing and that she knew she had hit him with her SUV before returning to his home. It alleges that she woke up his 14-year-old niece several hours later saying that something had happened to O’Keefe and that he might have been hit by her or a snowplow.

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