The Massachusetts judge overseeing the wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read warned attorneys today after protected information released in discovery was posted publicly online. Judge Mark Gildea scheduled the hearing after learning someone shared confidential discovery material on the social media website X 30 minutes after it was emailed to counsel. The information was about Michael Proctor, the former state trooper Read says orchestrated her framing. Gildea, who presides in Plymouth County Superior Court, “ordered that the parties and counsel provide a certification to the court as to all facts known to them as to any dissemination to anyone other than parties and counsel in this matter of any of the contents of the material.” Each of the 32 people who submitted certifications said they didn’t disseminate the information “nor are they aware of any facts regarding the dissemination of the contents of impounded material to any person or entity other than the parties and counsel,” Gildea said. “However, somehow an X account holder, not part of this case, apparently received information that was at least provisionally impoundable. Orders of the court have been violated, either directly or at the very least in spirit,” the judge said. “If these orders are to have any effect, all parties involved must operate with integrity.” Gildea reminded the attorneys of Rule 13C of the Massachusetts court rules, which “imposes a duty on all persons to protect the confidentiality of impounded material.” Rule 3.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct also prohibits lawyers “from making extrajudicial statements that they know or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding,” Gildea said. “On cases like this, where all parties involved are aware of the public attention, I expect that everyone is taking every precaution to preserve confidential information, to follow the rules of the court, and to adhere to my orders, because of the disclosure of sensitive private information,” the judge said. “I temporarily stayed further discovery of the non-party. If necessary, I am fully prepared to make such order permanent.” Another hearing is scheduled for July 10. A jury last year acquitted Read of all charges related to the death of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, who was found dead in the snow outside a home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Mass., early on Jan. 29, 2022. Prosecutors say she was drunk when she struck O'Keefe, who was an officer with the Boston Police Department. Read's defense was that Boston Police Department Detective Brian Albert, who owned the home at 34 Fairview, and Brian Higgins, a former agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, killed O'Keefe, and Read was framed as part of a broad Massachusetts law enforcement conspiracy. #law #court #karenread - @meghannmcuniff