Karen Read files lawsuit against Massachusetts State Police, Canton Police after acquittal
(ABC NEWS) — Karen Read has filed a lawsuit against Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department nearly a year after she was acquitted of killing her police officer boyfriend.
Prosecutors had accused Read of fatally hitting John O’Keefe with her car outside of another officer’s home and leaving him to die in a blizzard in January 2022, to which she pleaded not guilty.
Her first trial ended in a hung jury. In her second trial she was found not guilty of the most serious charges, including second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene after an accident resulting in death.
The jury did find her guilty of operating under the influence of liquor. The judge immediately sentenced her to one-year probation, the standard for a first-time offense.
In the lawsuit filed Thursday, Read claims she was “wrongfully prosecuted” for the death of O’Keefe — a Boston Police officer — costing her employment and leading to reputational damages, millions of dollars in legal expenses and serious emotional and physical distress and injury.
In the lawsuit, Read alleges that two former officers assigned to the case, former Massachusetts Police Officer Michael Proctor and former Canton Police Officer Sean Goode, were “misogynist bigots” who led a “conflicted and corrupt ‘investigation'” into the death of O’Keefe.
The suit listed some of the text messages found on Proctor and Goode’s phones with sexist and racist remarks that came under scrutiny during the course of Read’s criminal trials.
Proctor previously said he developed strong negative feelings about Read “as the case went on,” in an interview with ABC News. He said he “shouldn’t have” expressed his emotions in that way and should not have texted his friends about the case, calling the texts “regrettable.”
In a statement Thursday, Massachusetts Police said Proctor’s comments are “not tolerated within our ranks.”
“These disturbing messages are entirely inconsistent with any basic standard of decency and certainly with the expectations of a Massachusetts State Trooper. These racist, sexist and abhorrent comments absolutely do not reflect the values of the Massachusetts State Police and are not tolerated within our ranks. They underscore and fully support my decision to terminate Michael Proctor,” Massachusetts State Police Col. Geoffrey Noble said in a statement to ABC News.
Noble also recognized that “this misconduct harmed the public trust on which our mission depends.”
An attorney for Proctor did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment Thursday. Attorney information for Goode was not immediately available Thursday.
The Town of Canton said in a statement Thursday it “learned of a lawsuit filed by Karen Read from the news media and via a press release issued by Read’s legal team. Town Counsel had previously attempted to communicate with Read’s legal team as to the status of her claim, but received no response at the conclusion of the notice period.”
“The Town has not been served, and as such we have nothing to review with legal counsel at this time,” the statement added.
The statement went on to say, “The Town of Canton has the utmost faith and confidence in the new leadership of Canton Police Department under Chief Michael Daniels, and we would refute any broad stroke characterizations about the brave and dedicated men and women who serve in the Department. The Department has made significant strides forward over the past two years, including the acceptance and implementation of findings and recommendations in the outside audit report.”
Read’s suit alleges that the officers began “targeting and framing the female outsider, Ms. Read” after the owners of the house where O’Keefe was found in the front lawn “falsely” told police he never entered the house.
In a statement to ABC News in 2023, the prosecutors said, “There was no conspiracy or coverup. Such claims have been systematically refuted by evidence submitted to Norfolk Superior Court.”
Proctor denied fabricating evidence in the June 2025 interview with ABC News, saying “there is no evidence of it.”
Goode said during his testimony at the trial that he stood by his investigation in the case.
In the lawsuit, Read alleges that O’Keefe had gone into the house of fellow cops and friends Brian and Nicole Albert and claimed that there were signs of dog bites and scratches on his arm and a laceration on his head that “could have only come from a backwards fall on a ridged surface in the house.”
The prosecution said in its statement to ABC News that, according to O’Keefe’s cellphone GPS records and 11 witness statements, O’Keefe never entered Albert’s home. The medical examiner found “no signs of Mr. O’Keefe being involved in any type of physical altercation or fight.”
The Alberts previously said in a statement after Read’s acquittal that they “mourn with John’s family and lament the cruel reality that this prosecution was infected by lies and conspiracy theories spread by Karen Read, her defense team, and some in the media.”
“Today, our hearts are with John and the entire O’Keefe family. They have suffered through so much and deserved better from our justice system,” the statement at the time said.
Read’s suit alleges that Proctor and Goode’s investigative approach was born out of “singling out and vilifying an outsider while protecting the ‘blue line’ and their families.”
Goode resigned this week while on paid administrative leave from the Canton Police Department amid an outside investigation into alleged misconduct, the Boston Herald reported. The resignation does not alter the completion of the investigation and the results will still be submitted to the town and the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, the town of Canton told ABC Boston affiliate WCVB.
Read’s suit criticizes police for not searching the home where O’Keefe was found for blood, fingerprints or DNA evidence. Police only entered the “crime scene house” a week later, according to the suit.
Prosecutors said that evidence shows O’Keefe never entered the home and was not murdered by anyone inside the residence, alleging his injuries were sustained by Read hitting him with her car. Prosecutors insisted that those gathering inside the house had no idea O’Keefe was outside until he was discovered the next morning.
Read is asking the court for a ruling against Massachusetts State Police and Canton Police, an unspecified amount of damages to be calculated at trial and attorney’s fees.
