BOSTON (Court TV) — Karen Read‘s lawsuit against the group she says conspired to frame her for the death of her boyfriend is moving to federal court.
Karen Read listens during her trial at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Mark Jarret Chavous/The Enterprise via AP, Pool)
Read filed the lawsuit last week, accusing Nicole and Brian Albert, Jennifer and Matthew McCabe and Brian Higgins, collectively referred to as the “House Defendants,” of conspiring with members of the Massachusetts State Police and Canton Police Department in their investigation into John O’Keefe’s death.
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Read stood trial twice on charges that she killed O’Keefe by hitting him with her Lexus SUV and leaving him to die in the snow outside the Alberts’ home. A deadlocked jury caused the first trial to end with a mistrial, and a second jury acquitted Read of all charges except for driving under the influence, for which she was sentenced to probation.
The O’Keefe family filed a lawsuit against Read for John’s wrongful death, adopting the prosecution’s version of events. But the suit filed by Read laid out a strikingly different theory that had John killed at the hands of some combination of the people inside the home. Her lawsuit names the House Defendants, members of the investigative team and the agencies themselves.
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The defendants in Read’s suit filed a notice of removal on Tuesday, removing the case from the state-level court in Bristol County and into federal court in Boston.
“By way of background, the Superior Court Action arises from Plaintiff’s ongoing and malicious attempt to evade responsibility for the death of John O’Keefe by smearing and defaming witnesses who participated in the prosecution of her,” the filing states. “The case is a vengeful abuse of the judicial process, and Removing Defendants will make arguments in that regard at the appropriate time.”
The defendants’ filing argues that the federal court is a more appropriate place for Read’s civil case because of her allegations that the group “violated her federal civil rights by purportedly acting in concert to deprive her of her Fourth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.”
