Karen Learn has a brand new group of legal professionals defending her within the wrongful loss of life lawsuit introduced by John O’Keefe’s household.
Learn, whose homicide trial led to a mistrial earlier this yr, is going through a wrongful loss of life go well with from the household of the late Boston cop.
The O’Keefe household claims that Learn slammed into O’Keefe in entrance of 34 Fairview Street in Canton after an evening out of heavy ingesting, leaving her boyfriend to die in a blizzard.
O’Keefe’s brother Paul and his household filed the lawsuit towards Learn and two Canton bars — Waterfall Bar & Grill and C.F. McCarthy’s — because the O’Keefe household seeks financial damages for his loss of life.
Whereas legal professionals David Yannetti and Alan Jackson have been representing Learn in her felony homicide case, three new attorneys appeared in court docket on Learn’s behalf for the civil wrongful loss of life lawsuit final week.
The three legal professionals are from the Boston legislation agency Melick & Porter, LLP — William Keville Jr., Marissa Palladini, and Christopher George.
The attorneys didn’t instantly reply to touch upon Monday.
Keville reportedly has expertise with wrongful loss of life lawsuits.
“Bill routinely counsels his clients to help avoid and/or minimize liability risks,” his bio web page reads on the legislation agency’s web site. “For example, Bill is a member of the Association of Ski Defense Attorneys and he drafts contracts and release agreements for many resorts and recreational facilities throughout New England. Bill recently secured summary judgment in favor of one of those resorts in a wrongful death case by enforcing the release agreement.”
The wrongful loss of life go well with comes after a Norfolk County decide denied Learn’s attorneys’ bid to toss the costs of second-degree homicide and leaving the scene of an accident ensuing within the loss of life of O’Keefe.
Norfolk Superior Court docket Choose Beverly Cannone had beforehand declared a mistrial on July 1 after 9 weeks of testimony and 5 days of deliberation. The second trial is about for January.
In the meantime, Learn’s felony protection group is taking their argument that the homicide cost be dropped to Massachusetts’ highest court docket.
Within the wrongful loss of life lawsuit, the O’Keefe household repeats what the Norfolk County DA’s Workplace had acknowledged in court docket through the trial — that his relationship with Learn had been deteriorating earlier than his loss of life.
Then after an evening of a number of drinks on the Canton bars, Learn drove him to 34 Fairview Street.
“After JJ (O’Keefe) got out of defendant Read’s vehicle in front of 34 Fairview Rd. on January 29, 2022, Read drove her SUV and hit JJ,” the lawsuit states. “At all relevant times on January 29, 2022, defendant Read drove her SUV in a state of intoxication.
“As a result of Read’s SUV hitting JJ on January 29, 2022, JJ was knocked down onto the ground in front of 34 Fairview Rd., suffered serious injury and died,” the lawsuit continues.
Through the police investigation, a serum conversion and retrograde extrapolation was executed of Learn’s blood — with the outcomes exhibiting her BAC would have been between .13% and .29% across the time she drove, in response to the go well with.
That estimated BAC exceeds the authorized restrict to drive a motorcar in Massachusetts.
“As a direct and/or proximate cause of Read’s drunk driving, JJ sustained serious injuries of body and mind, conscious pain and suffering, fear of impending death, lost earnings, medical, funeral and burial expenses, and died,” the lawsuit states.
In the meantime, Learn’s attorneys have argued that she was framed for the homicide by these within the Canton home that night time.
Her legal professionals have continued to assert that outdoors actors killed O’Keefe, and conspired with state and native police to border Learn for his homicide. The wrongful loss of life lawsuit addresses these claims.
“She knowingly and deliberately changed her story and fabricated a conspiracy knowing the same to be false,” the lawsuit reads. “She publicly communicated this false narrative thereby frustrating Justice for JJ.
“Such false narrative caused the Plaintiffs aggravated emotional distress,” the go well with states. “The Plaintiffs listed above bring this Complaint seeking full and complete JUSTICE FOR JJ.”
