Judge delays wrongful-death lawsuit against Karen Reed pending completion of criminal trial

BOSTON. A judge ruled Thursday that Karen Reed will not have to testify in the wrongful-death lawsuit against her until the end of the criminal trial in January.

Thursday’s plea from Judge William M. White Jr. effectively delays the trial that accuses Reed of killing John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer who was her boyfriend. The lawsuit also describes the negligence of bars that continued to serve her drinks despite signs that she was drunk.

Reed has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting retrial on charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Her two-month criminal trial ended in July when a judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked. The judge rejected arguments that jurors later said they unanimously agreed that Reid was not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident.

Reed appealed that decision to the state’s highest court. Next week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear oral arguments on her request to dismiss the two charges.

Reed’s attorneys filed a motion to delay the lawsuit, citing that the criminal action would adversely affect Reed’s Fifth Amendment rights and her ability to vigorously defend herself against criminal prosecution.

Reed is accused of hitting O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him for dead during a snowstorm in January 2022. The second court session is scheduled for January 27.

But an attorney for O’Keefe’s brother Paul and other relatives who have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit oppose any delay. They suggested that reliance on the Fifth Amendment ignored the fact that she has spoken publicly about her case to the media several times and will be the subject of at least one upcoming documentary.

After the bar, Reed — a former adjunct professor at Bentley College — dropped off O’Keefe, a 16-year-old officer with the Boston Police Department, at another police officer’s home in Canton. His body was found in the yard. An autopsy revealed that O’Keefe died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.

Reid’s lawyers argued that O’Keefe was killed at home and that those involved decided to frame her because she was a “convenient outsider”.