Judge allows Karen Read to delay filing in civil wrongful-death case until after criminal retrial – Boston News, Weather, Sports

PLYMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) – Karen Read’s motion to stay the civil case against her was partially granted Friday and will not be filed until her upcoming criminal case is resolved.

Read is accused of running over and killing Boston Police Officer O’Keefe, her boyfriend at the time, with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow after a night of drinking in January 2022. Her defense claims it was staged.

A retrial for Read is scheduled for January; her first trial ended in a hung jury over the summer.

O’Keefe’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in August, suing Read for his death, as well as two Canton bars they say were overserved. Read The Night O’Keefe Died.

In his decision ordering the suspension, Massachusetts Superior Court Judge William White agreed with Read’s attorneys that she cannot participate in the civil and criminal trials at the same time.

“The prejudice to Read in choosing between defending this wrongful death action and protecting herself from providing evidence that could be used against her in the criminal retrial outweighs the Estate’s interest in the expeditious resolution of the wrongful death case.”

Read’s criminal retrial is scheduled to begin on January 27, 2025.