“The O’Keefe family… has compelling reasons to obtain the testimony of defendant Karen Read, who is trying to poison the jury pool. Speaking regularly to the media, Lawyers for the O’Keefe family wrote in a court filing Monday opposing the request for a postponement.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, intoxication manslaughter and leaving the scene of personal injury resulting in death. Prosecutors allege he drunkenly rear-ended her SUV O’Keefe early Jan. 29, 2022, after dropping her off outside a home in Canton following a night out at the bars.

Read’s lawyers Say it’s framed and that O’Keefe broke into the home then owned by a Boston police officer, where he was fatally beaten in the basement before his body was placed in the front yard.

first trial It ended with a hung jury in July and his retrial is scheduled for January.

In a civil case, O’Keefe’s family He accuses Read of crashing his car into O’Keefe and leaving him to die. The court accuses the two bars of negligently serving an intoxicated Read at their establishments in the hours before O’Keefe’s death.

“Solving the Criminal Case one way or another may very well narrow down or otherwise impact some of the issues, costs to the parties, and litigation strategies in the Civil Case,” McCarthy’s attorneys wrote in court documents filed Monday.

Read’s civil attorneys have said in previous legal filings that continuing the trial while the criminal case is pending could raise sensitive constitutional issues.

“The privileges afforded to Ms. Read under the Fifth Amendment would be greatly affected if this (civil) case continues while the criminal prosecution is pending,” they wrote.

When there is no accommodation, “Mrs. His lawyers said Read will have to decide between exposing himself to procedural default by refusing to testify in the case or “waiving his Fifth Amendment rights” while the criminal case continues.

The standard of proof in a criminal case is guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and jurors cannot draw any adverse inference from a defendant invoking his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. It is likely to be the legal standard in civil cases, and jurors may consider a witness’s reluctance to testify when assessing his credibility and deciding a matter.

Separately, Read’s criminal lawyers They are scheduled to file a lawsuit before the state Supreme Judicial Court on Nov. 6 The charges of murder and leaving the crime scene against him should be dropped on the grounds that more than one juror told him directly or through intermediaries, They were unanimously acquitted of these two crimes, It is deadlocked only on the issue of involuntary manslaughter.

Court filings by prosecutors and the defense showed that a majority of jurors were prepared to convict Read of manslaughter or one of its lesser crimes.

It is not yet clear when the judge will decide on the postponement request. A hearing date has not been set in the case.

This report used material from previous Globe stories. This breaking news will be updated.

Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected].