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Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
John Lawn, Watertown state lawmaker, pleads not guilty to drunken driving charge
Lawn, wearing a checkered navy blue suit, did not speak during his brief arraignment in Boston Municipal Court in downtown Boston. A judge said he cannot drive, and set Aug. 1 for his next court appearance. Lawn told responding officers that 'I am a state rep,' and that he was coming from an event at the State House when he was arrested, according to According to a heavily redacted report Boston Police released Wednesday, officers found Lawn sitting in his heavily damaged GMC Yukon near the corner of Beacon and Bowdoin streets after a bystander flagged down officers. Advertisement The bystander told police that he saw Lawn's SUV strike another vehicle on nearby Hancock Street, and drive away. He said he followed Lawn's vehicle, which ran a pair of stop signs before stopping at a red light near Beacon Street, according to the report. The bystander told police he got out of his car and tried to speak with Lawn, but that Lawn drove off when the light turned green. Lawn later stopped on Bowdoin Street, where police said his SUV had 'extreme damage to the passenger side front wheel.' Police said they also found pieces of his SUV's passenger side bumper on Hancock Street. Advertisement Police said Lawn's eyes were glassy and bloodshot, and his speech was slurred, according to the report. 'You know what I'd rather do, I want to take an Uber and go home,' he told police when asked to take a breathalyzer, according to WCVB. In a statement Wednesday, Lawn called the incident 'completely unacceptable,' said he 'deeply regret[s] and take[s] full responsibility' for his actions. 'I make no excuses,' he said. 'I am committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. To my family, friends, and constituents, I have let you down, and for that I am deeply sorry.' Lawn has represented parts of Newton, Waltham, and Watertown since 2011, and has served as chair of the Legislature's powerful health care financing committee since 2021. Matt Stout can be reached at
Fox News
10-07-2025
- Fox News
Karen Read asks Massachusetts court to throw out wrongful death lawsuit after murder acquittal
Karen Read, cleared last month of murder charges in the death of her former boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, is asking a Massachusetts court to throw out the wrongful death lawsuit his family filed against her, according to a new court filing. The O'Keefes named Read and two bars the couple visited in the hours before his death in a lawsuit seeking an unspecified sum of more than $50,000. She has a different legal team in the civil case than the high-profile criminal defense team that helped win her freedom. Read's civil lawyers notified the court Wednesday they had served a motion to dismiss to all parties. "It's basically notice that there is an out-of-court procedure going on," said Jack Lu, a retired Massachusetts judge and Boston College law professor. "Moving party files a (Rule) 9A package with the other sides. The other sides send their opposition packages to the moving party. They agree on anything they can, and the whole big package is forwarded to the court, which schedules a hearing or rules without a hearing." It doesn't mean the sides are getting any closer to a settlement, however, he said. The O'Keefes filed the lawsuit in August 2024, after Read's first trial ended with a deadlocked jury. The court put it on hold until her second trial ended. She was acquitted of all homicide-related charges but convicted of a drunken driving offense for which she received probation. Read was accused of hitting her boyfriend with a Lexus SUV and leaving him to die in the snow, but prosecutors failed to convince the jury despite finding shattered taillight fragments in the victim's clothes. In her first trial, Read's defense said she had been framed. In the second, she denied a collision ever happened, and her lawyers pointed to glaring holes in the investigation. According to the lawsuit, in the days before O'Keefe's death, "Read picked fights, experienced jealousy and had delusions of unfaithfulness." They went out drinking Jan. 28, 2022, stopping at C.F. McCarthy's and then the Waterfall Bar and Grille, both in Canton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The lawsuit accuses staff at McCarthy's of letting Read leave with a drink in her hand and the Waterfall of serving her when she was visibly intoxicated. Like state prosecutors, it also accuses Read of knocking O'Keefe to the ground with her car and leaving him to die in the snow with a head injury during a blizzard. The burden of proof is held to a lower standard in lawsuits. In the 1990s, former NFL star O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman but found civilly liable for their deaths. Read is accused of "knowingly and deliberately" changing her story, concocting "a conspiracy" and publicizing a "false narrative, thereby frustrating Justice for JJ." JJ was O'Keefe's nickname, and the family alleges Read's narrative caused them "aggravated emotional distress."
Boston Globe
07-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Boston police officer charged with raping minor has bail reduced
Belezos said that 'any hint of that is going to be a problem. And we'll have the Commonwealth directly back in front of me making a very powerful argument that I made a mistake. ... Understand?' 'I understand, your honor, thank you sir,' said Downey, appearing remotely from the Norfolk County jail, wearing a dark green jumper and glasses. Advertisement On June 30, Downey pleaded not guilty to four counts of aggravated rape of a minor, two counts of paying for sex with a child under 18, and two counts of enticement during his arraignment in Dorchester Municipal Court. Bail Downey, a Boston police officer since 1991, allegedly met the juvenile on the dating app Grindr on March 26, prosecutors wrote in a court filing. Downey allegedly continued messaging the boy on Snapchat and offered to pay him $30 for oral sex. Advertisement Downey allegedly picked up the teenager in his car and drove to a parking lot near the South Bay mall in Dorchester. Downey then raped the boy and paid him $50, prosecutors allege. Downey allegedly continued to message the victim for about two months and paid him for sex again in May. In that instance, the youth memorized a portion of Downey's license plate number and gave it to investigators, prosecutors wrote. Detectives traced the Snapchat account back to Downey, according to prosecutors, and at one point saw a car allegedly matching the minor's description parked at Boston Police headquarters. Investigators ran the plate number and found it was registered to Downey, prosecutors wrote. At Monday's bail review hearing, Downey's lawyer, Kelli Porges, told Belezos that $250,000 bail amounted to 'grandstanding' because her client is a police officer. Other people facing similar charges have had lower bails imposed, she said. Porges said there's no accusation that Downey used 'his employment or any weapon or his position of authority' to commit the alleged offenses. She said it 'looks like there's allegations that [the] complainant was perhaps prostituting himself out to several people — and again, my heart bleeds for him, I'm not victim-shaming here. But this is not the case where you jump up and down and say $250,000 cash. ... Bail is not a punishment.' Porges said whether Downey knew the boy's age at the time of the encounters remains a 'triable issue.' She said Downey is not a flight risk and maintains the support of his family, noting his adult son's presence during the remote hearing. Advertisement Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Brandon DeAvilla urged Belezos to maintain the higher bail. 'He's facing significant mandatory minimum sentences,' DeAvilla said, noting that the four aggravated rape counts call for mandatory minimums of 10 years behind bars. DeAvilla said prosecutors have a strong case against Downey. 'Our evidence is not only the testimony of the juvenile,' DeAvilla said. 'We have pictures of the communications through Snapchat, where the individual is talking to the user name that the Commonwealth alleges is the defendant' based on electronic records. DeAvilla said surveillance video of Downey's vehicle arriving at the second encounter 'lines up perfectly with the juvenile's text messages to his friends saying he's being picked up' and a subsequent text essentially indicating 'he got paid the $80 for the second offense.' A search of Downey's vehicle was also conducted, DeAvilla said. 'The juvenile in this case described the interaction as his legs being lifted up and his feet touching' the vehicle's ceiling, DeAvilla said. 'And there were imprints that appear to be footprints that were found during the execution of the search warrant.' The next hearing in Downey's case is slated for July 29, records show. Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report. Travis Andersen can be reached at
CBS News
01-07-2025
- CBS News
Driver hits Boston police officer, flees crash before being arrested in South End, police say
Boston police officer struck by driver who did not stop after crash, police say Boston police officer struck by driver who did not stop after crash, police say Boston police officer struck by driver who did not stop after crash, police say A Boston police officer was hit by a driver, who then fled the crash, according to police. The chase began in Boston's theater district. At some point, the driver hit the officer and then kept going, police say. They say that the driver had crashed into at least one other car. Officers followed the car close behind, but did not initiate an official pursuit. The driver was eventually arrested in the South End. "The cop was like, 'She started downtown." It's like wait what? And you're stopping her here? And then somebody's telling me that they can't chase them around the city," witness Joshua Paul said. "You can't let that go on through the city. They could have been killing people along the way. You got to stop them when that happens." The officer was taken to a Boston hospital to be looked at, but officials say that they appeared to be uninjured. There are no other injuries reported. Witnesses say that they saw the woman drive up one-way streets in the South End. "We just happened to look out the window, and there was this car in shambles and a woman on the ground with her hands cuffed behind her back. It's not unordinary to see someone sort of maybe driving too fast. But this is, you know, off the charts," Paul said. The damage to the car was extensive CBS Boston The driver's car was seen with extensive damage before it was towed. The front good was jammed open, the airbags had been deployed, and the car was on its rims. There were also parts of the vehicle throughout the South End. Boston Police are investigating. There is no more information available.
CBS News
30-06-2025
- CBS News
Boston police officer of 30 years charged with child rape
Boston Police officer charged with child rape after being accused of paying child for sexual acts Boston Police officer charged with child rape after being accused of paying child for sexual acts Boston Police officer charged with child rape after being accused of paying child for sexual acts A Boston Police officer of over 30 years has been charged with child rape after being accused of paying a 14-year-old for sexual acts. Sergeant Paul Downey appeared in Boston Municipal Court in Dorchester on Monday. A judge approved an arrest warrant for Sergeant Downey, who is charged with four counts of Rape of a Child Aggravated by Age Difference, two counts of Engaging in Sexual Conduct with a Child under 18 for a Fee, and two counts of Enticement of a Child under 18 to Engage in Commercial Sexual Activity. Downey was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday afternoon, but was held without bail because no defense attorney was available. Downey allegedly met a 14-year-old boy on the dating app, Grind then the two moved the conversation to Snapchat, according to a statement of the case provided by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. The 58-year-old Downey is accused of meeting the boy twice this spring, at different Boston locations, and paying the child for sexual acts. The boy allegedly provided state police detectives with a description of Downey and a partial license plate number which was tracked to a parking area for Boston Police. Investigators also used digital records to track Downey's Snapchat account and claim the boy identified him in a photo lineup with "a 90% certainty." Former Boston Police Academy instructor Sources tell WBZ's I-Team that Downey used to be an instructor at the Boston Police Academy. According to Boston Police, he joined the force in 1991. "These charges are obviously very troubling and our thoughts are with any alleged victims. We have faith in the Massachusetts State Police and the SCDAO to conduct a thorough investigation. The officer was immediately placed on administrative leave," said Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox in a statement. Downey is expected to have an arraignment on Tuesday.
