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Acquitted of murder and other charges in the death of her former boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, Karen Read says she no longer has to pay for meals when out on the town.
Responding to a question from co-host Craig Melvin on the “Today” show Friday, Read said the response to the jury’s verdict has been overwhelmingly positive.
“You have to know that when you walk down the street, there are lots of people who look at Karen Read and think, ‘Oh, there’s that woman who got away with killing her ex-boyfriend who’s a cop,'” Melvin said. “How do you go through life knowing that there are lots of people who, despite what the jury said, still think you got away with it?”
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Read said she hasn’t met many people who feel that way.
“I have no interactions [like that] no matter where I go — the grocery store, a restaurant, Newbury Street in Boston, any hotel or restaurant I eat at, I don’t pay for meals,” she said. “I get discounts everywhere. My parents get help taking groceries to go.”
In fact, she said the large turnout of supporters outside the Dedham courthouse during her trial is just a sampling.
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“It’s throughout Massachusetts,” she told Melvin. “And it happens when I travel.”
Still, she admitted that her professional license has not been restored — and she’s still out of work.
“I’m back working on the case,” she said. “And, you know, we’ve brought in civil lawyers but this case is so comprehensive that we need all hands on deck.”
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Massachusetts prosecutors took Read to trial twice in connection with O’Keefe’s January 2022 death outside a colleague’s home during a blizzard.
They accused her of hitting him with her Lexus SUV and fleeing the scene, where he was found dead the following morning under a sheet of snow.
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Her defense pointed to a flawed investigation, which involved a lead detective who lost his job, Michael Proctor, over rude and lewd text messages he sent about Read to people who should not have received confidential information on an active case.
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The first time around, jurors deadlocked.
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The second time, they found her not guilty of all homicide-related charges related charges and convicted her only of drunken driving.
Read’s still not done in court, however. She’s suing the Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department over their handling of the O’Keefe investigation as well as what her attorneys have called a culture of “bias and corruption” involving not only allegations of misogyny, racism and antisemitism, but also that investigators tried to frame her for O’Keefe’s death.
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“This was always our plan,” she said of the lawsuit. “I had to save my own life first. I can’t do anything if I’m not free.”
Her Los Angeles-based attorney Alan Jackson added that the goal of the lawsuit is to bring to light “institutional corruption that permeates the Massachusetts law enforcement system.”
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“That’s what this lawsuit’s gonna do, ultimately,” he said. “What Karen wants, you cannot write on a check.”
Read is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit from O’Keefe’s family.
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When asked by co-host Laura Jarrett if she had anything to say to the family, she said no.
“I don’t have anything to say to his family,” she said. “I interacted with them for several years. John and I had actually dated a long time ago, when we were in our early 20s, and I was caring and I believe generous with them, with my time. And we did spend a lot of time together. And they experienced who I am.”
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