PLYMOUTH, Mass. — In a new development on Friday morning in the Karen Read wrongful death civil case, an attorney representing the family of John O’Keefe withdrew a request that sought to block Read from getting her cellphones back — and he’s acknowledging he made a mistake.
Read appeared briefly in Plymouth Superior Court with her parents by her side. The family of O’Keefe, Read’s Boston police officer boyfriend, was also in attendance.
The hearing centered on the two cellphones Read wants returned. The devices were seized in January 2024 as part of a witness intimidation investigation.
The O’Keefe family entered the hearing seeking an emergency motion to prevent the return of Read’s phones until the data can be preserved. Their legal team had alleged that there was incriminating evidence on the phones.
Marc Diller, the O’Keefe family’s attorney, had previously claimed that Read told blogger “Turtleboy” she was “dead” because of what was on those phones. In court, Diller walked back that claim, saying he had misinterpreted the quote.
“I also want to acknowledge to this court, and to Ms. Read, that I was mistaken when I interrupted her words to say, ‘I’m dead. I’m f****** dead,’ Diller said.
Read’s attorneys had argued that Diller mistook the word “again” for “dead” in a recording. Aaron D. Rosenberg, one of Read’s civil attorneys, told Boston 25 News that the allegation against his client is “completely inaccurate.”
In withdrawing the request to prevent Read from getting her phones back, Diller announced, “The plaintiffs are going to withdraw the current motion that’s sitting before this court. The parties have agreed to act in an expedited fashion towards either reaching a stipulation or some agreement as to how to deal with the issue for the phones on or before the date that they get released back into the custody of Karen Read.”
Rosenberg, who appeared in court on behalf of Read alongside her longtime attorney Alan Jackson, confirmed his office would work in an “expedited fashion to come up with an agreement for how the phones will be accessed and searched.”
If the Read team can’t reach an agreement with the O’Keefe team on a protocol for reviewing and producing the phone extractions, they’ll return to court for further discussion.
A temporary order preventing deletions from the phones, which are currently held by the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, remains in place.
Outside the courthouse, Boston 25 News spoke briefly with Read’s longtime attorney, Alan Jackson.
“There have been orders by two separate judges indicating that the Norfolk DA’s Office shouldn’t have her phones,” Jackson said. “There’s an appeal process, there are procedural roadblocks. Ultimately, Karen is going to get her phones back, as she should have had two years ago.”
Among those who attended the hearing were Read’s parents, Paul O’Keefe and his wife Erin, John’s brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
The O’Keefe family is suing her over “emotional injuries, severe physical pain, anguish, emotional distress, and other harm” in connection with his death in Canton on the night of January 29, 2022. They have been arguing that Read’s phones may have evidence that supports their claim of infliction of emotional distress.
Read had stood accused of striking O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm after a night of drinking outside the home of fellow Boston officer Brian Albert, but during her retrial last year, Read’s lawyers argued that she’s been framed in a cover-up involving prosecution witnesses and law enforcement.
She was ultimately acquitted of murder and manslaughter in O’Keefe’s death in June 2025.
Read has since filed a sweeping lawsuit of her own, accusing multiple Massachusetts State Police troopers and several Canton residents of conspiring to frame her for a crime she says she did not commit.
Read’s Lexus SUV was returned to her in September 2025, three months after her acquittal. The vehicle was to be auctioned off in January, but it’s been delayed until May.
A trial date for the civil case hasn’t been set.
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