{"id":756,"date":"2026-06-05T12:37:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=756"},"modified":"2026-06-05T12:37:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:37:43","slug":"karen-read-reveals-decision-behind-new-lawsuit-against-city-and-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=756","title":{"rendered":"Karen Read reveals decision behind new lawsuit against city and police"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman who was acquitted of killing her police officer boyfriend last year after two widely publicized murder trials, revealed Friday why she filed a lawsuit alleging misconduct and negligence in the investigation that led to her prosecution.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis was always our plan, that I had to save my own life first,\u201d Read said on \u201cTODAY\u201d while flanked by her two attorneys. \u201cI have to continue fighting for justice. The acquittal is deserved, but the wrongs have not been completely righted.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019ve been happening along the way, but I always knew this was going to happen if I could get the help legally to do this,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n

Read sued the Massachusetts State Police and the town of Canton on Thursday, alleging that misconduct and negligence led to her prosecution in the death in 2022 of John O\u2019Keefe, a Boston police officer.<\/p>\n

Her attorneys argued in the lawsuit that \u201can embedded culture of bigotry, misogyny, systemic failures, and institutional rot\u201d was at the heart of two agencies that investigated O\u2019Keefe\u2019s death, the State Police and the Canton Police Department.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit comes after Read was acquitted last June of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. She was convicted of a single charge \u2014 operating under the influence of liquor.<\/p>\n

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She was acquitted less than a year after her first trial ended with a hung jury.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Read\u2019s lawyer Alan Jackson explained that the goal of the lawsuit is to \u201cbring to the light the institutional biases, the institutional corruption that permeates the Massachusetts law enforcement system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law speaks in dollars, but that\u2019s not what the ultimate goal is here,\u201d Jackson told \u201cTODAY\u201d co-anchor Craig Melvin. \u201cWhat Karen wants, you cannot write on a check, which is exposure. Exposure of the corruption that is the DNA of the Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department, which is evidenced by these two individuals and their text messages.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement responding to the lawsuit, officials in Canton rejected \u201cbroad stroke characterizations\u201d about its police officers and said the town had made significant strides toward implementing the findings of an audit that was critical of how its officers handled Read\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

The Massachusetts State Police superintendent, Col. Geoffrey Noble, described derogatory text messages cited in Read\u2019s lawsuit as \u201centirely 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were in a position where they could, they felt comfortable within their own family, the family of law enforcement, to send these vile text messages,\u201d Jackson said. <\/p>\n

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Read added that she believes O\u2019Keefe was the \u201cvictim of this institutional corruption\u201d among law enforcement. <\/p>\n

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O\u2019Keefe, 46, was found dead outside the suburban home of another Boston police officer on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022. According to the medical examiner, the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, with hypothermia listed as a contributing factor.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors alleged that Read was dropping O\u2019Keefe off for a gathering at the other officer\u2019s home when \u2014 fueled by intoxication and anger about the state of her deteriorating relationship \u2014 she reversed her Lexus SUV into O\u2019Keefe and left him for dead. Read rejected the allegations.<\/p>\n

There was no video of the alleged collision nor did any witnesses claim to have seen it. But prosecutors from the Norfolk County District Attorney\u2019s Office presented vehicle data and expert testimony that they said proved their case.<\/p>\n

Her attorneys blamed others for O\u2019Keefe\u2019s death \u2014 including Brian Albert, the now-retired police sergeant who was helping host the gathering at his Canton home \u2014 and said she was the victim of a corrupt, biased law enforcement investigation.<\/p>\n

During Read\u2019s first trial, her attorneys argued that Albert and others most likely killed O\u2019Keefe during a fight and framed Read for his death. The attorneys were barred from identifying the group as suspects in the second trial; after she was acquitted, Read filed a lawsuit accusing them of covering up O\u2019Keefe\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

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Attorneys for Albert and the others have called the allegations \u201cfalse, defamatory, and without merit.\u201d In April, they filed a defamation suit against Read.<\/p>\n

The two lawsuits continue.<\/p>\n

Read\u2019s attorneys also accused the former state trooper who led the investigation into O\u2019Keefe\u2019s death of bias.<\/p>\n

During both trials, the lawyers presented text messages that showed the former trooper, Michael Proctor, making derogatory comments about Read and sharing investigative details with non-law enforcement personnel, including a relative who was close to the Alberts.<\/p>\n

Proctor, who testified at the first trial, acknowledged saying \u201cunprofessional\u201d things about Read but denied leading a biased investigation. He was dishonorably discharged after those proceedings and was not called to testify during the second trial.<\/p>\n

Read on Friday said that since the trials, she has not returned to work and has focused her attention on her case. And while she \u201cwants this to be over,\u201d she continues to fight for O\u2019Keefe, whom she described as \u201cvery easy going and kind of shy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s not lost; he\u2019s the reason we are doing this,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman who was acquitted of killing her police officer boyfriend last year after two widely publicized murder trials, revealed Friday why she filed a lawsuit alleging misconduct and negligence in the investigation that led to her prosecution.\u201cThis was always our plan, that I had to save my own life first,\u201d Read said on \u201cTODAY\u201d while flanked by her two attorneys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-news"],"yoast_head":"\nKaren Read reveals decision behind new lawsuit against city and police - Trusted Moving Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=756\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Karen Read reveals decision behind new lawsuit against city and police - 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