Judge Delays Civil Case Against Karen Read

A Massachusetts judge has granted a stay in the wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read, deferring her deposition until after her criminal retrial scheduled for January 2025. Read faces charges, including second-degree murder, for allegedly hitting her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die, though she claims she was framed. The civil lawsuit, filed by O'Keefe's family, also targets two bars accused of overserving Read on the night of O'Keefe's death. Judge William White ruled the stay necessary to protect Read's Fifth Amendment rights, allowing other discovery processes to continue in the civil case. The decision means the civil case will not interfere with Read's upcoming criminal trial, which follows a mistrial earlier this year. This ruling balances Read's legal rights against the interests of O'Keefe's family in pursuing their wrongful death claim.