Friday, May 10, 2013
Ex-state chemist Annie Dookhan faces 27 charges in six Massachusetts counties related to falsifying test results in drug cases.
A Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that all 27 charges against ex-state drug lab chemist Annie Dookhan will stand despite attempts by her lawyer to get two thrown out. The Boston Herald reports Dookhan’s lawyer Nicolas Gordon argued to try to get two counts of witness intimidation dismissed, but Judge Jeffrey Locke denied Gordon’s attempt. Dookhan, who is accused of falsifying drug case evidence in thousands of cases during her tenure at a Jamaica Plain lab, pleaded not guilty Dec. 19, 2012 to four counts of obstruction of justice, eight counts of tampering with evidence and one count of falsely pretending to hold a degree from a college or university.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Massachusetts has already spent $760,000 re-prosecuting drug cases in which ex-chemist Annie Dookhan was involved in testing.
By this summer, the state will have spent $2.5 million prosecuting individuals whose court cases have been affected by the Annie Dookhan-sparked drug lab crisis. The Boston Herald reported Saturday that state prosecutors have spent $760,000 so far in the scandal, which has rocked the Massachusetts justice system. Dookhan, who tampered with drug evidence, faces charges in six counties. Her actions as an employee at the state Hinton Drug Lab in Jamaica Plain have had consequences statewide, as judges and prosecutors scramble to retry – and in some cases release – those convicted on drug charges.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Ex-chemist Annie Dookhan accused of tainting evidence in thousands of Massachusetts drug lab cases.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts wants the sentences of defendants put on hold in drug cases in which evidence was handled by a an ex-state drug lab chemist accused of falsifying the results in thousands of state cases. The ACLU has asked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to rule that defendants whose cases were handled by Annie Doohan have their sentences held while they await new trials, according to ABC News. Dookhan, who worked at the Hinton state drug lab in Jamaica Plain, faces 27 charges, including 17 counts of obstruction of justice, eight counts of tampering with evidence, perjury and falsely pretending to hold a degree from a college or university. She has pleaded not guilty at each of six arraignments …
Friday, February 1, 2013
Annie Dookhan, the chemist at the center of the state drug lab crisis, pleaded not guilty to more charges today.
The ex-chemist whose malfeasance tainted thousands of state drug cases was in court facing six more charges this week. Annie Dookhan pleaded not guilty to five counts of obstruction of justice in Brockton Superior Court and to one count in Fall River Superior Court Wednesday, according to WHDH.com. Dookhan pleaded not guilty to 15 charges in Suffolk Superior Court Dec. 20. The charges included four counts of obstruction of justice, eight counts of tampering with evidence and one count of falsely pretending to hold a degree from a college or university. She pleaded not guilty to charges in Norfolk Superior Court earlier this month as well. Dookhan is the centerpiece in a state drug lab crisis that has affected the outcome of thousands of …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The proposed five-member board would have oversight authority over all state facilities engaged in forensic services in criminal investigation.
In the wake of the Jamaica Plain Drug Lab crisis, the Massachusetts Senate Republican Caucus wants “tighter controls and higher standards” at its state drug labs. The caucus proposed a five-member board be established to “have oversight authority over all state facilities engaged in forensic services in criminal investigations,” according to a statement Wednesday. The board will consist of the secretary of public safety and security, the attorney general, the inspector general, the colonel of state police, or their designees, along with one appointee from the Governor, the statement said. “We need to create a new infrastructure of oversight, accountability, transparency and integrity, and this legislation will accomplish these goals,” …
Saturday, January 12, 2013
New details have emerged in the ongoing Hinton Drug Lab crisis.
While disgraced state lab chemist Annie Dookhan was in court on Wednesday, The Boston Globe unearthed new details in the state drug lab saga including a plea by her husband not to trust her. Surren Dookhan, Annie Dookhan’s husband, sent a text message to George Papachristos, former Norfolk Count assistant district attorney and a noted friend of Annie Dookhan, calling her a liar, according to The Boston Globe. According to the Globe: “This is Annie’s husband, do not believe her, she’s a liar, she’s always lying,” Surren Dookhan texted to the prosecutor, according to an interview Papachristos gave to State Police on Oct. 3, 2012. “She is looking for sympathy and attention.” The Globe also reports that Annie Dookhan was caught removing 90 …
Monday, December 31, 2012
A Boston Herald report details the problems at the Jamaica Plain-based drug lab building site at which the state scandal was born.
Lack of communication between management and workers, minimal quality assurance training and a poor employee review system all sound like issues that led to the Hinton Drug Lab crisis, which the state is now grappling with. But these are also issues with 17 other laboratories in the same building. An Association of Public Health Laboratories report made 18 recommendations for the labs at the site of the now shut down lab where chemist Annie Dookhan botched the testing of drug evidence in an undetermined amount of state cases, according to the Boston Herald. The report said the site maintains good lab practice but top-heavy management, poor communication between upper management and lower level employees and an inconsistent employee review…
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
The state drug lab chemist who is accused to tampering with evidence will be put on GPS monitoring and must adhere to a curfew.
A diminutive Annie Dookhan walked into Suffolk Superior Court Wednesday morning where she was arraigned on 15 of the 27 charges against her in the state drug lab crisis. Dookhan pleaded not guilty to four counts of obstruction of justice, eight counts of tampering with evidence and one count of falsely pretending to hold a degree from a college or university. Charges are pending against Dookhan in other counties as well. Assitant Attorney General Anne Kaczmarek, who is prosecuting the case, said Dookhan allegedly tampered with drug vials while working at the lab and admitted to forging a lab officer’s initials on a drug sample. "She would make the drugs match the objective test," she said. Kaczmarek listed two instances where the true …
Monday, December 17, 2012
The chemist at the center of the state drug lab investigation allegedly mishandled evidence in thousands of Massachusetts drug cases.
Annie Dookhan, the chemist who stands accused of mishandling evidence in thousands of state drug cases, has been indicted on new charges. Dookhan was indicted by statewide grand jury on 27 charges today including 17 counts of obstruction of justice, eight counts of tampering with evidence, perjury and falsely pretending to hold a degree from a college or university, according to a press statement from Attorney General Martha Coakley's office. “We allege that Annie Dookhan tampered with drug evidence and fabricated test results on multiple occasions,” Coakley said in the statement. “Her alleged actions have sent ripple effects throughout the criminal justice system. We are committed to working with all stakeholders to fix this situation and…
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The mistakes of the former Hinton Drug Lab chemist at the center of a statewide scandal are the subject for a Popular Science online magazine article.
Annie Dookhan’s alleged mistakes as a chemist have received much attention since she was indicted on charges related to the Hinton Drug Lab scandal this past summer. But a science magazine attempts to unpack what she did – and did wrong – from a purely scientific point of view. A Monday article titled, “FYI: What Do Forensic Chemists Do, And Why Would They Cheat?” on PopSci.com, the website affiliate of Popular Science Magazine, shines a light on the job of a forensic chemist. The article claims that while on TV, the state chemist’s job looks easy, even glamorous, but behind the microscope in real life, that chemist’s test means everything in court. “…In a court of law, some drug convictions result in harsher sentences than others,” the …
