PLYMOUTH, Mass. (Court TV) — The disgraced trooper fired after sending inappropriate messages about Karen Read is trying to delay a scheduled deposition in one of her cases after a new lawsuit accuses him of more misbehavior.
Before the jury enters the courtroom Karen Read shares a lighthearted moment with her defense team, during her second murder trial in Norfolk Superior Court, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Read is involved in multiple civil lawsuits after she was cleared of charges that she killed her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Read stood trial twice: The first trial ended with a deadlocked jury, and a second jury acquitted Read of all charges except for driving under the influence, for which she received probation.
Prosecutors argued at the criminal trial that Read had been driving drunk when she, angry with the victim, hit O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV and left him to die in the snow outside of a friend’s house. Read’s defense maintained she was innocent and was the target of a wide-ranging cover-up involving both the people inside the house on the property where O’Keefe was found and investigators.
Read has filed two civil lawsuits. The first, in federal court, accuses the civilians who testified at her trial of lying when they said O’Keefe never entered the house and accuses them of being behind O’Keefe’s death. A second lawsuit, filed against the Town of Canton, where O’Keefe died, and the Massachusetts State Police, accuses leadership of both entities of failing to train and properly supervise their officers.
Read is also the defendant in two separate civil cases: The first, filed by the O’Keefe family, accuses her of causing the victim’s wrongful death, and the second, filed by the same group inside the house that serves as the plaintiff for one of Read’s lawsuits, accuses her of defamation.
It’s against the backdrop of four intersecting cases that a key witness from Read’s criminal trial has filed for a protective order to stop his scheduled deposition. Michael Proctor served as the lead investigator for the Massachusetts State Police in Read’s criminal case. At her first trial, he was forced to admit under oath that he sent several inappropriate text messages in the case, including ones that referred to the defendant as a “nutbag” with “no a—” and alleged he was looking for nude photos on her phone. The newest lawsuit, targeting the Massachusetts State Police, was filed on June 5 — days before Proctor’s scheduled June 8 deposition — and includes a number of new allegations against him involving inappropriate text messages targeting multiple minorities.
Proctor was scheduled to sit for a deposition in the original wrongful death lawsuit, filed by the O’Keefe family on Monday, but filed to stop the deposition after Read’s lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police contained new allegations against him. “Mr. Proctor is not a party to this matter,” his attorney wrote in the motion filed with the court. “He is — at best — a mere fact witness.” Their motion says that he needs additional time to prepare for the deposition, citing “personal circumstances.”
Judge Mark Gildea, who has been tasked with presiding over both the defamation and wrongful death lawsuits, expressed frustration with the attorneys for both Proctor and Read as he weighed whether to grant the motion. “For this case to proceed efficiently, and for our system of justice to work, certain basic things have to happen,” Gildea said. “A subpoena needs to mean something. A lawyer’s agreement needs to have meaning. Lawyers need to communicate with their clients. Clients need to keep their attorneys informed.”
Gildea agreed to stay the deposition for 48 hours, but asked Proctor’s team to offer more information about why the delay was necessary. At the same time, he dressed down Read’s attorneys for what may have been strategic planning on their part. “I followed up with [Read’s attorney] with his reference to strategically preparing for the deposition because I read in the media of an appearance on the Today show Friday morning, where Ms. Read said filing her new civil lawsuit was always a part of the plan she had,” Gildea said. “Although there is no duty for Ms. Read’s counsel to have informed Mr. Proctor’s counsel of the intent to file the most recently filed Bristol County action, I think it is unreasonable to not have done so with a scheduled deposition pending, and then to have filed such an action four (4) days before the scheduled deposition.”
In a late filing before the judge was expected to announce his ruling on Monday, Proctor’s attorney submitted an affidavit and medical documentation with a motion to impound both, saying they “contain private information concerning Mr. Proctor’s medical condition.”
Proctor was fired from his position in the Massachusetts State Police following his testimony at Read’s trial.
No trial dates have been set for any of the civil actions.
