Massachusetts State Police Agree to Pay Karen Read $100,000 to Settle Lawsuit Over Her Prosecution

The Massachusetts State Police have agreed to pay Karen Read $100,000 to resolve the lawsuit she filed over the investigation that led to her murder prosecution in the death of Boston police Officer John O'Keefe, according to court records reported by the Boston Globe. The figure is the most Read could collect from the agency on her tort claims under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, Boston 25 News reported.

In a Nov. 2 court filing, the State Police said they consent to a judgment against the agency in that amount, while arguing that Read's other claims, including requests for declaratory judgments, should be dismissed, the Globe reported. Read agreed to drop some of those claims, which her attorney, Aaron Rosenberg, said would avoid overlapping litigation. A judge must still approve the deal, and Read's claims against the town of Canton remain active.

A State Police spokesperson said the agreement "would avoid prolonged litigation and the significant costs to taxpayers," the Globe reported. The agency also said it will strengthen its investigative practices and training, according to Boston 25 News. In the court filing, the department's lawyer wrote that it condemns the messages quoted in Read's complaint and that they do not reflect the agency's values.

Read sued the State Police and the town of Canton on June 4, 2026, according to a CBS News timeline of the case. The Associated Press reported at the time that the complaint accused both of negligence in hiring, training and supervising officers, and argued that her acquittal had exposed a culture of bigotry, misogyny and institutional failure inside both organizations. She sought damages for legal fees, lost income, emotional distress and harm to her reputation, without naming a dollar amount.

The complaint leaned heavily on text messages, recordings and other communications attributed to former State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator, and former Canton police Sgt. Sean Goode, AP reported. Read's lawyers argued Proctor was "unfit for positions of public trust" and that his conduct compromised the integrity of the case, Boston 25 News reported. The Globe reported that the complaint also accused Proctor of talking about planting drugs on people, and noted that Goode resigned from the Canton department days before the suit was filed.

When the suit was filed, State Police Superintendent Col. Geoffrey Noble called Proctor's messages racist and sexist and said officials were "keenly aware of the ways in which this misconduct harmed the public trust," AP reported. Canton said it had full confidence in its police chief and disputed sweeping descriptions of its officers, while Proctor's attorney, Matt Hamel, argued that what Proctor said in his personal life years earlier had no bearing on the investigation of Read.

O'Keefe was found dead on the lawn of a fellow officer's Canton home on Jan. 29, 2022, during a snowstorm that followed a night of heavy drinking, according to CBS News and AP. Prosecutors alleged Read struck him with her SUV and left him to die, while her defense argued he was killed by others who then covered it up. A Norfolk County grand jury indicted her on charges including second-degree murder in June 2022.

Her first trial ended in a mistrial on July 1, 2024, after jurors said they were deeply divided. At the retrial, jurors on June 18, 2025, acquitted her of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene, but convicted her of drunken driving, CBS News reported. Judge Beverly Cannone sentenced her to one year of probation, which ended in June 2026. A group of prosecution witnesses called the verdict a "devastating miscarriage of justice".

Proctor's own conduct became a central issue. At the first trial, crude texts he wrote about Read were read in court, and he admitted on the stand that they were unprofessional, Boston 25 News reported. He was relieved of duty on July 1, 2024, fired on March 19, 2025, and had his law enforcement certification suspended by the state's POST Commission in December 2025, according to CBS News.

For Americans who honor the men and women who wear the badge, this case has brought pain on every side. A family lost a son who served Boston as a police officer, and a woman spent more than three years fighting charges a jury rejected. Holding the few who betray the public's trust to account is how honest officers keep faith with the communities they protect, and taxpayers will be watching the State Police's promised training reforms.

The settlement does not end Read's legal battles. O'Keefe's family is pursuing a wrongful death suit against her, and several people have sued Read and a blogger who supported her for defamation over claims tying them to O'Keefe's death, the Globe reported. CBS News said four trial witnesses filed that defamation suit on April 16, 2026. Read, in turn, has a federal lawsuit pending against Proctor and several witnesses, filed in November 2025, alleging they worked together to frame her. Her claims against Canton also continue, and the State Police settlement still awaits a judge's signature.