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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The civil case against Karen Read in the death of John O'Keefe will be delayed until her second criminal trial ends, a judge ruled Thursday.
Prosecutors accuse Read of hitting her boyfriend O'Keefe, a Boston police officer, with her SUV and leaving him to die after a night out in Canton in Jan. 2022. Read is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.
Read More: Karen Read Defense Team Files Brief In Appeal To Supreme Judicial Court
Read's first criminal trial ended in a mistrial in July because of a hung jury. A retrial is scheduled for Jan. 2025.
More than one month after the mistrial, O'Keefe's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Read and two Canton bars, Waterfall Bar & Grill and C.F. McCarthy's.
Read's attorneys filed a motion to stay the wrongful death case until after the retrial, arguing that if she were to testify in the civil case while the criminal proceedings are ongoing, it would impact her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Superior Court Judge William M. White, Jr. agreed with Read's team, ordering a stay in the deposition of Read and other discovery from Read until the conclusion of her retrial.
Waterfall Bar & Grill and C.F. McCarthy's each filed their own motions to pause civil proceedings against them until the criminal case ends. Judge White denied their requests, allowing discovery about the other defendants and witnesses to proceed.
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