Karen Read seeks delay in wrongful death lawsuit until after her murder retrial

Karen Read is attempting to postpone her criminal trial related to her boyfriend’s murder until after the family of the Boston police officer she was dating files a wrongful death claim. The complaint, which was filed last month, holds Read accountable for John O’Keefe’s death and also points the finger at clubs for their alleged negligence in continuing to give her alcohol in spite of obvious signs of intoxication. It claims that on the evening of January 28, 2022, Read was provided seven alcoholic beverages in around ninety minutes at the first establishment. Read then took the last drink to the second bar, where she was served a mixed drink and a shot in less than an hour.

On Wednesday, Read’s legal team submitted a request to postpone the lawsuit trial until after her criminal trial. In a snowstorm in January 2022, Read is accused of running over John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him for dead. A judge ruled the two-month trial a mistrial in July, and a new trial is set for January 27. Her lawyers wrote in the motion that “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 defend herself from criminal prosecution.” They also stated that since the wrongful death lawsuit is not expected to be completed, her requested stay is “minimal and not prejudicial.”

However, a lawyer for O’Keefe’s brother Paul and other family members who filed the lawsuit opposes any delays and suggests that the Fifth Amendment should be disregarded given that O’Keefe has made multiple public statements about her case to the media and will be the focus of at least one upcoming documentary.

Paul O’Keefe’s lawyer, Marc Diller, claimed that 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.” “Ms. Read’s current reliance on her Fifth Amendment right to silence seems to be less about avoiding self-incrimination and more about controlling the narrative to suit her interest, especially given her open willingness to speak publicly.”

The Waterfall Bar & Grill, Read, and C.F. McCarthy’s are named as defendants in a case that Paul O’Keefe filed in Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts on behalf of his family and his brother’s estate. It requests a jury trial. An attorney from Waterfall Bar & Grill responded on Friday, refuting the claims. Read has entered a not guilty plea and is awaiting a retrial on January 27 for charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while driving while intoxicated, and fleeing the scene of a fatal accident. The judge ruled a mistrial in July, following jurors’ declaration of a stalemate during the two-month criminal trial.

Following the bar hopping, O’Keefe, a 16-year veteran of the Boston police, was dropped off at the Canton residence of another police officer by Read, a former adjunct professor at Bentley College. They discovered his body in the front yard. O’Keefe died from severe force trauma and hypothermia, according to an autopsy. O’Keefe was slain inside the house, according to Read’s attorneys, and those involved decided to frame her because she was a “convenient outsider.”

According to the lawsuit, Read and O’Keefe got into a fight, and she knew that she had hit him with her SUV before going back to his house. It claims that a few hours later, she woke up his 14-year-old niece and told her that O’Keefe had suffered an injury and that she may have hit him.