Karen Read’s bid to delay wrongful death lawsuit filed against her allowed by judge

According to a new court filing on Friday, Karen Read has won part of her motion to delay her deposition and “other discovery” in a civil lawsuit filed against her.

Plymouth County Superior Court Judge William M. White, Jr. allowed Read’s motion that the civil suit against her be “stayed” until her criminal case is complete. Her motion argued her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination would be impacted if the wrongful death civil suit proceeded while the criminal prosecution was ongoing.

“Because this case is in its earliest stages and the criminal case is scheduled to go to retrial in three months, the court will not be inconvenienced by a brief stay, and any scheduling conflict with witnesses that might arise would presumably be resolved in favor of the criminal prosecution,” the filing read. “Even with a brief stay, the plaintiffs’ wrongful death claim can be litigated within the established tracking order.”

This means lawyers for the O’Keefe family will not be able to question Read “pending resolution” of her criminal retrial, which is scheduled for January 2025.

As for the other aspects of the civil case, Judge White wrote, “It is unnecessary to completely stay this wrongful death suit ot avoid impairing Read’s Fifth Amendment privilege. Rather, the interests of the parties, the court, and the public will best be served by staying only that discovery directed to Read, pending resolution of the second criminal prosecution.”

In August, the O’Keefe family sued Read and two Canton bars she and O’Keefe were drinking at in the hours before O’Keefe’s death in January 2022.

The suit does not state the dollar amount the family is seeking. Instead, it demands, “…costs, compensatory and punitive damages, lost value of next of kin and any other relief this Court deems appropriate.”

In a separate criminal case in Norfolk County, Read faces a 2nd-degree murder charge for O’Keefe’s death. Prosecutors have alleged she struck him with her SUV and left him in a snowstorm.  Read’s lawyers have long argued that she’s been framed by law enforcement and people identified as witnesses in the case.

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