Acquitted woman sues MA and Canton police for misconduct

A Massachusetts woman acquitted of murdering her police officer boyfriend has filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police and the town of Canton, alleging misconduct and negligence in the investigation that led to her prosecution. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Bristol County Superior Court, accuses the agencies of fostering an embedded culture of bigotry, misogyny, systemic failures, and institutional rot.

Karen Read was found not guilty last June of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Prosecutors had alleged Read struck O’Keefe with her SUV after a night of drinking and left him to die in a blizzard outside a Canton home. Her defense team argued she was framed as part of a police conspiracy, theorizing that O’Keefe was killed by colleagues who covered it up. After a mistrial in her first case, a jury in 2025 acquitted her on all charges except operating under the influence, for which she received a sentence of one year of probation.

The new 87-page civil complaint focuses on the conduct of two officers central to the investigation: former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael...