Homicide defendant Karen Learn has “one foot out of Massachusetts,” in keeping with John O’Keefe’s household’s lawyer who needs to “lock in” testimony from Learn within the wrongful dying lawsuit.
Whereas the lawyer for the O’Keefe household wrote within the new court docket submitting that Learn has bought her Mansfield residence, an actual property agent instructed the Herald that the house has not formally bought but however is below contract.
Every time a sale occurs for the house listed at $849,900, Learn’s prison protection attorneys — listed as lenders on the mortgage — are set for an enormous windfall, the Herald has discovered.
The household of the late Boston police officer has introduced the wrongful dying go well with in opposition to Learn and two Canton bars after O’Keefe died following an evening out with an allegedly drunk Learn, who drove him to a different cop’s residence on the finish of the evening.
Learn’s prison homicide trial led to a mistrial earlier this 12 months, and now a second trial is predicted to start out in January. Whereas that trial is pending, Learn’s civil attorneys and the 2 Canton bars try to delay the wrongful dying go well with.
However in a brand new submitting from the O’Keefe household lawyer, the household is pushing for the civil lawsuit to go on because the prison case performs out.
“The O’Keefe family also has compelling reasons to lock in testimony from Karen Read, who seeks not only to poison the jury pool with her regular communications with the media, reporters and/or bloggers, but also has one foot out of Massachusetts now that her house has sold,” the household lawyer Marc Diller wrote within the new submitting.
“It is feasible for both (criminal and civil cases) to proceed concurrently without imposing undue burden upon witnesses or parties,” the lawyer added. “To avoid prejudice based on witness unavailability, failed memories and/or Karen Read’s attempts to poison the jury pool through her public statements, this Court should exercise its discretion to DENY a stay of the civil case pending the criminal matter’s resolution.”
Learn’s civil protection attorneys didn’t instantly reply to touch upon Wednesday.
Learn’s residence
Learn purchased her four-bed, three-bath, two-story colonial on almost a full acre lot at 481 Gilbert St. in Mansfield in 2017 and listed it on the market over the summer season for $849,900, data present.
The legislation corporations for each David Yannetti and Alan Jackson, Learn’s attorneys within the prison case, in September every acquired giant mortgages from Karen Learn on the house at 481 Gilbert St., in keeping with North Bristol County Registry of Deeds data.
Two authorized specialists the Herald spoke with confirmed that it’s widespread for legal professionals to place up a mortgage for a consumer to safe authorized charges when a house sells. Certainly, every mortgage doc states that Learn owes $200,000 plus curiosity, a debt to be made in common funds with the complete debt paid off no later than Oct. 1, 2054.
Neither Yannetti nor Jackson returned Herald requires touch upon this mortgage association.
The house on the west facet of Gilbert Avenue was inbuilt 1972 and was most not too long ago appraised at $598,800, in keeping with Mansfield city property data.
The case
Learn is charged with second-degree homicide (Depend 1), manslaughter whereas working a motorcar below the affect (Depend 2), and leaving the scene of an accident leading to dying (Depend 3).
Following the mistrial earlier this 12 months, her attorneys filed a movement to have Counts 1 and three dismissed within the subsequent trial as they declare that jurors from the unique trial have come ahead to say they had been able to acquit her on these fees unanimously and had been solely held on Depend 2 however didn’t know that they may return a partial verdict.
Trial Decide Beverly J. Cannone denied the movement and Learn’s group has since appealed to the SJC. That attraction is pending.
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