The Boston Herald reports that the Massachusetts State Police agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Karen Read, who was acquitted of murder in the death of her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, apart from a drunken driving conviction. Read sued the State Police and Canton Police for negligence and civil conspiracy, alleging negligent hiring, training and supervision of biased and corrupt officers. Her suit focused on former State Police detective Michael Proctor and former Canton police sergeant Sean Goode, alleging their early involvement contaminated the investigation. The state's damages cap under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act is $100,000. Read's lawyers agreed to the amount but said she does not concede her harm was limited to it. In a filing, the State Police condemned the messages quoted in the complaint and said it fired Proctor last year.
Why it matters
The settlement resolves a civil claim against the State Police and is not a finding of wrongdoing. Read's lawyers say she is pursuing similar claims in other courts.
Settlement: A settlement ends a claim without proving it, and usually involves no admission of wrongdoing. The money usually comes from the government or its insurer. Researched with AI assistance from the sources listed here and reviewed under our methodology.