A judge delays the wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read until after her criminal trial

By MICHAEL CASEY The Associated Press

FILE- Defendant Karen Read, center, departs Norfolk Superior Court, Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Steven Senne]

BOSTON (AP) — A judge ruled Thursday that Karen Read won’t have to give a deposition in her wrongful death lawsuit until after her criminal trial in January.

The brief from Judge William M. White Jr. on Thursday effectively delays the lawsuit, which blames Read for the death of John O’Keefe, the Boston police officer who was her boyfriend. The lawsuit also describes negligence by bars that continued to serve drinks to her despite signs she was drunk.

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. Next week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear oral arguments in her bid to dismiss the two charges.

Read’s attorneys had filed a motion to delay a trial on the lawsuit, citing that the criminal action would adversely affect Read’s Fifth Amendment rights and her ability to vigorously defend herself from criminal prosecution.

Read is accused of ramming into O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him for dead in a January 2022 snowstorm. A second trial is scheduled for Jan. 27.

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

After the barhopping, Read — a former adjunct professor at Bentley College — dropped off O’Keefe, a 16-year member of the Boston Police Department, 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.”