Judge postpones Karen Reed’s wrongful death case

PLYMOUTH. A Superior Court judge has stayed part of a lawsuit filed by the estate of John O’Keefe and his representative, John’s brother, Paul O’Keefe, over the death of Karen Reed. Reid is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the January 2022 death of John O’Keefe.

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

Judge William White Jr. ordered Reed’s scheduled testimony in the civil case and any other discovery directly related to it suspended. Other investigative proceedings will continue without pause, according to the order.

In reaching his decision, White balanced the competing interests of “timely adjudication of a civil tort” against “the potential prejudice to the defendant of having to choose between defending herself in a civil action and defending herself against criminal prosecution,” he wrote.

A lawyer for O’Keefe’s estate opposed the stay on the grounds that a delay would lead to the “degradation of evidence” and the fading of memories or future unavailability of witnesses.

White’s order downplays these concerns.

“Given the extensive investigation into O’Keefe’s death and the completion of the first prosecution, the risk that evidence will remain unpreserved and witnesses’ memories lost does not appear to be significant,” the judge wrote.

O’Keefe’s estate also argued that Reed’s media appearances could poison the jury and contradicted her stated concern about self-incrimination.

White rejected these arguments.

“As distasteful as Reid’s media campaign has been to plaintiffs, her (media appearances) regarding the criminal case do not constitute a waiver of her right against self-incrimination,” 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, Reed drank to excess at both bars before hitting O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him unconscious and in a blizzard.

Karen Reed is charged with second-degree murder

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

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

Reed is also charged with involuntary manslaughter while driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident causing bodily injury and death.

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

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

Reid’s first trial in O’Keefe’s death ended in a mistrial in July. A retrial of her case is scheduled for January 27, 2024.

Attorneys sought to have some of the charges against Karen Reed dropped

After a mistrial, Reed’s attorneys filed a petition seeking to dismiss two charges in the case, and said jurors unanimously found Reed not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death.

But prosecutors argued that the defense had little a chance to object to the declaration of a mistrial at that time and did not, and the case has no verdict.

Judge Beverly Cannon sided with the prosecution and ruled that Reed could be tried again on all charges.

Reed’s attorneys appealed Cannon’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]