Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman acquitted of her police officer boyfriend’s murder, has shared reasons for filing a lawsuit alleging misconduct and negligence in the investigation that led to her prosecution. Read explained during an appearance on ‘TODAY’ that her primary motive is to fight for justice, stating, “I had to save my own life first. The acquittal is deserved, but the wrongs have not been completely righted.”
On Thursday, Read filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police and the town of Canton, accusing them of misconduct and negligence in the investigation of John O’Keefe’s death in 2022. Her attorneys argued that an embedded culture of bigotry, misogyny, systemic failures, and institutional rot affected the State Police and Canton Police Department.
Read’s acquittal in June followed two trials. In the first trial, a hung jury resulted. Charges included second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. Read was ultimately convicted of operating under the influence of liquor.
Read’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, emphasized the lawsuit aims to expose the institutional biases and corruption within the Massachusetts law enforcement system. “The law speaks in dollars, but that’s not what the ultimate goal is here,” Jackson stated on ‘TODAY’. “The goal is exposure of the corruption evident in these two institutions.”
Canton officials rejected the lawsuit’s characterizations, highlighting strides made following an audit critical of the police handling of Read’s case. Massachusetts State Police Superintendent Col. Geoffrey Noble condemned derogatory text messages mentioned in the lawsuit, labeling them inconsistent with standards and values upheld by the police force.
Read believes her boyfriend, O’Keefe, was a victim of institutional corruption. O’Keefe, aged 46, was found dead outside a fellow officer’s home on January 29, 2022. The medical examiner attributed his death to blunt force trauma to the head, with hypothermia as a contributing factor.
Prosecutors claimed Read, intoxicated and angry, reversed her vehicle into O’Keefe and fled. They provided vehicle data and expert testimony as evidence, though no video footage or eyewitnesses corroborated the incident.
Read’s attorneys argued misconduct in the investigation, implicating others including Brian Albert, a retired police sergeant. The group was alleged to have killed O’Keefe in a fight and framed Read. While the attorneys were barred from pursuing these claims during the second trial, following Read’s acquittal, they accused Albert and others of covering up the death. Albert denied such accusations and countersued Read for defamation.
The lawsuits persist. Read’s attorneys also accused the lead investigator, former state trooper Michael Proctor, of bias. During both trials, text messages from Proctor displayed derogatory remarks and inappropriate sharing of case details.
Since the trials, Read has been focused solely on this case, not resuming work. Despite wanting the ordeal to conclude, she continues advocating for O’Keefe, describing him as “very easy-going and kind of shy.” She remarked, “He’s not lost; he’s the reason we are doing this.”
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