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    • Judge delays Karen Read’s testimony in wrongful death case
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    Judge delays Karen Read’s testimony in wrongful death case

    Sakege Posted on

    PLYMOUTH – A Superior Court judge has stayed parts of the wrongful death lawsuit brought against Karen Read by the estate of John O’Keefe and their representative, John’s brother, Paul O’Keefe. Read is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the January 2022 death of John O’Keefe.

    Read’s attorney filed a motion to stay the civil case until the criminal case is resolved, arguing that parallel civil and criminal proceedings could undermine Read’s Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

    Judge William White Jr. ordered a stay of Read’s scheduled deposition in the civil case and any other discovery directly related to it. Other discovery proceedings will continue unabated, according to the ruling.

    In making the decision, White balanced the competing interests of “the timely adjudication of a civil wrong” and the “potential harm to the defendant by being forced to choose between defending himself in the civil action and protecting himself from criminal prosecution,” he wrote.

    The attorney for O’Keefe’s estate argued against the suspension on the grounds that the delay would cause “degradation of evidence” and disappearance of memories or future unavailability of witnesses.

    White’s order downplays those concerns.

    “Given the extensive investigation into O’Keefe’s death and the first prosecution completed, the risk that evidence will not be preserved and witnesses’ memories will fade does not appear to be substantial,” the judge wrote.

    O’Keefe’s estate also argued that Read’s media appearances could poison the jury, while contradicting his professed concern about self-incrimination.

    White rejected these arguments.

    “As unpleasant as Read’s media campaign may be to plaintiffs, his (media appearances) on the criminal case do not constitute a waiver of his right not to incriminate himself,” he wrote.

    The wrongful death lawsuit also names two Canton bars, CF McCarthy’s and Waterfall Bar and Grill, as defendants. According to the plaintiff, Read drank excessively at both bars before hitting O’Keefe with his SUV, leaving him unconscious and exposed during a snowstorm.

    Karen Read charged with second-degree murder

    Karen Read was charged with second-degree murder after the body of O’Keefe, a Boston police officer and Braintree native, was found in the driveway outside the Canton home of a fellow Boston police officer. Boston on January 29, 2022, during a snow storm. Prosecutors say Read was drunk and angry when she intentionally hit him after a night of drinking at CF McCarthy’s and the Waterfall.

    But Read’s defense attorneys say she was framed for O’Keefe’s death.

    Read is also charged with drunk driving manslaughter and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.

    Prosecutors called more than 65 witnesses to testify that began on April 29.

    The defense witness list was much shorter and included a snowplow driver who said he saw nothing on the Canton lawn where O’Keefe’s body was found.

    Read’s first trial in O’Keefe’s death ended in a mistrial in July. She is scheduled to be retried on January 27, 2024.

    Defense lawyers tried to get some charges against Karen Read dropped

    Following the mistrial, Read’s defense attorneys motions presented sought to dismiss two charges in the case and said the jury had unanimously agreed that Read was not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death.

    But prosecutors argued that the defense had the possibility of opposing the declaration of nullity of the trial at the time and he didn’t do it, and he The case has no sentence.

    Judge Beverly Cannone sided with the prosecution and ruled that Read can be retried on all charges.

    Read’s attorneys appealed Cannone’s decision to the state Supreme Judicial Court, filing a 37-page petition requesting oral arguments before a single judge. That hearing is scheduled for next month.

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    Contact Peter Blandino at [email protected]

    Sakege
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