Massachusetts State Police agreed to pay Karen Read $100,000 to resolve her lawsuit against the department, court records showed, WCVB reported on Monday, Nov. 9. The sum was the most Read could have received under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, Boston 25 News reported.
Related: Judge Rules Lindsay Clancy Can Be Tried Again, Rejecting Her Double Jeopardy Bid.
What the agreement says
A filing by Read’s attorneys said she would dismiss two claims if a judgment for $100,000 was entered against the state police on her remaining claims, WCVB reported. The filing responded to a state police motion to dismiss the case.
Read’s lawyers agreed to the amount in a motion filed Nov. 2, Boston 25 News reported.
The filing also said Read was “pursuing similar claims and related relief in other venues,” according to WCVB. She agreed to drop the claims against the department so that similar lawsuits would not be pending at the same time, the station reported.
A state police spokesperson said the department reached the agreement to “avoid prolonged litigation and the significant costs to taxpayers of continuing the case,” according to both stations. The spokesperson said the agency would keep strengthening its investigative practices and training for investigators.
What Read alleged
Read filed the suit against the state police and the town of Canton on June 4 in Bristol County Superior Court, GBH reported. It accused both of misconduct and negligence in the investigation that led to her prosecution.
The complaint claimed negligence, civil conspiracy and misconduct, and it said investigators focused on Read from the start because of a “biased and predetermined” case against her, Boston 25 News reported. Those claims were allegations, and the department had moved to dismiss the case, WCVB reported.
A separate lawsuit Read filed in November 2025 named several members of the state police and most of the people at the Canton house party, WBUR reported at the time.
The Proctor messages
Much of the June complaint centered on former Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the case, and former Canton police Sgt. Sean Goode, GBH reported. It cited texts, recordings and other communications it said showed racist and sexist remarks.
State police fired Proctor in March 2025 after a disciplinary board review of his messages, WHDH reported. Proctor read some of the texts aloud in court during Read’s first trial and admitted they were unprofessional, according to Boston 25 News.
In a court filing, the department’s lawyer wrote that the agency “unequivocally condemns the racist, sexist, and abhorrent messages quoted in the complaint,” Boston 25 News reported.
State police also said they had added training and oversight for officers since the Read case, WHDH reported.
What comes next
Prosecutors accused Read of striking her boyfriend, Boston police Officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV in January 2022 and leaving him in a snowstorm, GBH reported. A jury acquitted her in June 2025 of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene, and convicted her of a lesser drunken driving charge.
O’Keefe’s family has a wrongful death lawsuit against Read that remains pending, WHDH and Boston 25 News reported.
More court coverage is in our crime and law section, and local developments are on our Boston local news page.
Sources
- WCVB: Mass. State Police reaches settlement with Karen Read lawsuit against department, court records say
- Boston 25 News: Massachusetts State Police reaches $100,000 settlement with Karen Read
- WHDH: MSP to pay Karen Read $100k to settle lawsuit
- GBH: Karen Read sues police agencies that investigated her Boston police boyfriend’s death
- WBUR: Karen Read files lawsuit alleging ‘gross misconduct’ by state police shielded real killers
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