Karen Read seeks delay in wrongful death lawsuit until her criminal trial is done

BOSTON (AP) — Karen Learn is looking for to delay a wrongful loss of life lawsuit filed by the household of her Boston police officer boyfriend till her felony trial in connection together with his loss of life is completed.

The lawsuit filed final month blames the loss of life of John O’Keefe on Learn, and likewise on what it describes as negligence by bars that continued to serve drinks to her regardless of indicators she was drunk. It says the primary bar served her seven alcoholic drinks in about 90 minutes the night time of Jan. 28, 2022, and that Learn carried the final drink into the second bar, the place she was served a shot and a blended alcoholic drink inside an hour.

Learn’s attorneys on Wednesday filed a movement to delay a trial on the lawsuit till after her felony trial. Learn is accused of ramming into John O’Keefe along with her SUV and leaving him for useless in a January 2022 snowstorm. Her two-month trial led to July when a decide declared a mistrial, and a second trial is scheduled for Jan. 27.

“A keep is acceptable right here, the place continuing with this civil motion similtaneously the felony motion will adversely have an effect on Ms. Learn’s Fifth Modification rights and her skill to vigorously protection herself from felony prosecution,” her attorneys wrote within the movement, including that her requested keep is “minimal and never prejudicial” for the reason that wrongful loss of life lawsuit isn’t anticipated to be completed till no less than August 2027.

However an legal professional for O’Keefe’s brother, Paul, and different family who filed the lawsuit oppose any delays and recommended the reliance on the Fifth Modification ignored the very fact she has has spoken publicly about her case a number of occasions to the media and will likely be topic of no less than one upcoming documentary.

“Ms. Learn persistently and voluntarily disregards her Fifth Modification privilege as she makes an attempt to craft her personal narrative and poison the jury pool for each her felony and civil instances,” Paul O’Keefe’s legal professional, Marc Diller, wrote. “In mild of her open willingness to talk publicly, Ms. Learn’s present reliance on her Fifth Modification proper to silence seems to be much less about avoiding self-incrimination and extra about controlling the narrative to swimsuit her curiosity.”

The lawsuit filed in Plymouth Superior Courtroom in Massachusetts by Paul O’Keefe on behalf of his household and his brother’s property names Learn, the Waterfall Bar & Grill and C.F. McCarthy’s as defendants. It asks for a jury trial.

On Friday, an legal professional from Waterfall Bar & Grill filed a response, denying the allegations.

Learn has pleaded not responsible and awaits a Jan. 27 retrial on fees of second-degree homicide, manslaughter whereas working a motorized vehicle underneath the affect and leaving the scene of a deadly accident. Her two-month felony trial led to July when the decide declared a mistrial after jurors stated they had been deadlocked. The decide dismissed arguments that jurors later stated that they had unanimously agreed Learn wasn’t responsible on the costs of homicide and leaving the scene.

After the bar-hopping, Learn — a former adjunct professor at Bentley School — dropped off O’Keefe, a 16-year member of the Boston police, exterior the Canton dwelling of one other police officer. His physique was discovered within the entrance yard. An post-mortem discovered O’Keefe died of hypothermia and blunt power trauma.

Learn’s attorneys argued that O’Keefe was killed inside the house and that these concerned selected to border her as a result of she was a “handy outsider.”

The lawsuit says Learn and O’Keefe had been arguing and that she knew she had hit him along with her SUV earlier than returning to his dwelling. It alleges that she awoke his 14-year-old niece a number of hours later saying that one thing had occurred to O’Keefe and that he may need been hit by her or a snow plow.