What are next steps for Karen Read following acquittal in death of John O’Keefe?

Although Karen Read can not be tried again for the death of John O’Keefe, following her acquittal on all but an OUI charge on Wednesday; she still has legal matters in her future.

Read still faces a wrongful death civil lawsuit filed by O’Keefe’s family in Plymouth County in 2024.

Karen Read’s bid to delay wrongful death suit heard

O’Keefe’s family sued Read and the two Canton bars she and O’Keefe were drinking at in the hours before O’Keefe’s death in January 2022.

The lawsuit blames the death of John O’Keefe on Read, and also on what it describes as the bars’ negligence by continuing to serve drinks to her despite signs she was drunk. It says the first bar served her seven alcoholic drinks in about 90 minutes the night of Jan. 28, 2022, and that Read carried the last drink into the second bar, where she was served a shot and a mixed alcoholic drink within an hour.

Karen Read Trial Karen Read, center, waves to supporters as she speaks after she was found not guilty of second-degree murder on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds) (Josh Reynolds/AP)

The lawsuit says Read and O’Keefe had been arguing and that she knew she had hit him with her SUV before returning to his home. It alleges that she woke up his 14-year-old niece several hours later saying that something had happened to O’Keefe and that he might have been hit by her or a snow plow.

The suit does not state the dollar amount the family is seeking. Instead, it demands, “…costs, compensatory and punitive damages, lost value of next of kin and any other relief this Court deems appropriate.”

Attorney William Keville Jr. represents Read in the civil case. Keville has previously argued that Read would have to defend herself on two fronts at the same time if the civil suit is not delayed. Keville said Read’s 5th amendment privilege, or right to not incriminate herself, would be violated if she was deposed or questioned in the civil case before her criminal trial ends.

Attorney Marc Diller represents the O’Keefe family. He had argued that Read had already forfeited her 5th amendment right by providing interviews to Dateline NBC, ABC’s 20/20 and Vanity Fair.

In November 2024, Plymouth County Superior Court Judge William M. White, Jr. allowed Read’s motion that the civil suit against her be “stayed” until her criminal case was complete. Her motion argued her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination would be impacted if the wrongful death civil suit proceeded while the criminal prosecution was ongoing.

A formal date has not been set for the suit to return to court.

Unlike a criminal trial, where the prosecution must convince jurors of a person’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the plaintiff must only show that it is “more probable than not” that the offense occurred.

Because Read was only found guilty of operating under the influence in her criminal trial on Wednesday, Judge Beverly Cannone briefly discussed in court the possibility of Read serving a year’s probation.

0 of 9