FILE - Karen Read smiles as the not guilty verdict of second-degree murder is read in Norfolk Superior Court, June 18, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool, File)
Karen Read’s lawyers ask judge to dismiss part of wrongful death lawsuit
BOSTON (AP) 鈥 Karen Read’s lawyers asked a judge on Monday to dismiss part of a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of her former Boston police officer boyfriend, whose killing she was acquitted of earlier this year after two highly publicized trials.
FILE - Karen Read smiles as the not guilty verdict of second-degree murder is read in Norfolk Superior Court, June 18, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool, File)
BOSTON (AP) 鈥 Karen Read’s lawyers asked a judge on Monday to dismiss part of a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of her former Boston police officer boyfriend, whose killing she was acquitted of earlier this year after two highly publicized trials.
During a hearing before Plymouth County Superior Court Judge Daniel O鈥橲hea, Read鈥檚 lawyers argued that 鈥檚 parents, brother, and a niece he was raising after his sister and brother-in-law’s deaths don’t have standing to pursue emotional distress damages because they didn鈥檛 witness O’Keefe’s death or see his body until after he had been declared dead at the hospital.
鈥淣one of the alleged plaintiffs observed the alleged incident that is described in the complaint,鈥 Read attorney Damon Seligson said. 鈥淭hey were not witnesses to the event 鈥 they came upon him many hours later.鈥
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Lawyers for O鈥橩eefe’s family, on the other hand, said Read caused them emotional distress by fabricating her own 鈥渃onspiracy鈥 about the events leading up to his 2022 death, launching 鈥渁 public campaign of disinformation鈥 and using crime bloggers to pit her massive following against them. Read’s case garnered considerable news and social media coverage, and crowds of supporters descended on the courthouse during the trial with 鈥淔ree Karen Read鈥 signs.
鈥淭hese are real damages for real people who have suffered long enough,鈥 Marc Diller, a lawyer representing the O鈥橩eefe family, said in court.
In particular, the family鈥檚 lawyers point to statements Read allegedly made to O鈥橩eefe鈥檚 14-year-old niece upon returning to his house without him the morning before his body was found.
Diller said Read woke O鈥橩eefe鈥檚 niece that morning and told her O’Keefe never came home. O鈥橩eefe鈥檚 niece said during the trial that Read said, 鈥溾楥ould I have done something? Could he have gotten hit by a plow?鈥欌 and later: 鈥淢aybe I hit him.鈥
O’Keefe became a parent to his sister鈥檚 and brother-in-law鈥檚 two children years before his death, after they died within two months of each other. Diller said Read was aware of that history and knew her actions would cause O’Keefe’s niece emotional distress that was 鈥渕ore than anguish and more than grief.鈥
鈥淭he defendant had a relationship with her, knew she was emotionally fragile, knew she was orphaned at age six,鈥 he said. 鈥淪he has always known their vulnerability and yet she creates a calculated and malicious campaign of disinformation designed to hide the truth.鈥
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Read left the girl 鈥渁lone, vulnerable, shocked and afraid,鈥 Diller said.
Read was found not guilty of in June of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident after more than three years and two trials over the death of O鈥橩eefe, who was found on the lawn of a fellow officer鈥檚 home after a night of heavy drinking. Prosecutors said Read hit O鈥橩eefe with her SUV, leaving him to die in a blizzard, and charged her with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly collision.
Her lawyers successfully defended her, painting a sinister picture of police misconduct and theorizing that O鈥橩eefe was killed by colleagues, followed by a vast cover-up. She was convicted of drunken driving, however, for which she will face a year鈥檚 probation.
Civil wrongful death and emotional distress claims filed against Read were during her criminal trial, but proceedings finally began Monday. The O鈥橩eefe family the two bars where the couple drank before he died.
