BOSTON — Karen Read is pushing to postpone a wrongful death lawsuit initiated by the family of her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, until after her criminal trial related to his death concludes.
The lawsuit, filed last month, attributes the death of John O’Keefe to Read, and alleges negligence from bars that continued to serve her alcohol despite apparent signs of intoxication. It claims that one bar served her seven alcoholic drinks in roughly 90 minutes on the night of January 28, 2022, and that she carried her last drink into another bar, where additional drinks were served to her within the following hour.
Read’s legal team filed a motion on Wednesday to delay the civil trial until after her criminal proceedings. She has been accused of hitting O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him for dead during a snowstorm in January 2022. A previous trial, which lasted two months, resulted in a mistrial in July, with another trial set for January 27.
Her lawyers argue that proceeding with the civil case concurrently with the criminal case would infringe upon her Fifth Amendment rights and hinder her ability to mount a robust defense. They contend that her requested delay is reasonable, as the wrongful death lawsuit is not expected to reach a resolution until at least August 2027.
In contrast, an attorney representing O’Keefe’s brother, Paul, and other family members contest the potential delays. They assert that Read’s claims about her Fifth Amendment rights are undermined by her previous public statements regarding her case and upcoming documentary features.
“Ms. Read has openly disregarded her Fifth Amendment privilege while trying to shape her narrative, potentially tainting the jury pool for both cases,” stated Paul O’Keefe’s attorney. “Her current reliance on this right seems more focused on managing the story in her favor rather than a genuine concern about self-incrimination.”
The lawsuit, filed in Plymouth Superior Court, names Read along with the Waterfall Bar & Grill and C.F. McCarthy’s as defendants, seeking a jury trial.
An attorney for Waterfall Bar & Grill submitted a response denying the allegations on Friday.
Read has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting retrial on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Her initial criminal trial, which concluded in July, ended in a mistrial after jurors indicated they were deadlocked. The judge dismissed claims that jurors had later reached a unanimous agreement on her innocence regarding second-degree murder and leaving the scene.
Read has filed an appeal to the state’s highest court, which announced that oral arguments would occur on November 6 regarding her effort to dismiss two of the charges.
Following a night of bar-hopping, Read, a former adjunct professor at Bentley College, dropped off O’Keefe, a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, outside the Canton home of another officer. His body was subsequently discovered in the yard. An autopsy determined that he succumbed to hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Read’s attorneys contend that O’Keefe was killed inside the residence and that those involved sought to implicate her as a “convenient outsider.”
The lawsuit alleges that Read and O’Keefe had been in an argument and that she was aware of striking him with her vehicle before returning to his home. It claims she awakened his 14-year-old niece hours later, suggesting that something may have happened to O’Keefe, indicating he might have been hit by either her or a snowplow.
