Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley says low-level pushers don't stand to benefit most from the JP drug lab "disaster." He says that honor goes to hardened criminals moving lots of drugs or those with violent histories.
If you're accused of a drug crime, and the evidence against you was handled by the State Drug Lab in Jamaica Plain, it might not mean "get-out-of-jail free." But for defendants it sometimes means "get-out-of-jail for lower bail." On Thursday, a convicted rapist who faces new drug charges was due back in court. His bail had been lowered because chemist Annie Dookhan — accused of tainting evidence in thousands of cases — had tested evidence against him. The man, 52-year-old Marcus Pixley, skipped court and is on the lam, a fugitive from justice. Pixley, who was held on $5,000 bail in connection to a South End drug possession arrest, had his bail reduced to $1,000, which he posted. A judge ordered the reduction because samples in the case …
It still isn't clear what drove a JP State Drug Lab chemist allegedly to taint evidence in thousands of cases. But the attorney general says two common reasons don't appear to apply: a drug habit or money trouble.
On the heels of a Boston Globe report that special courts are being set up JP State Drug Lab chemist Annie Dookhan was arrested today at her Franklin home on two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of falsely pretending to hold a college degree. She was scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m. What could possibly drive a chemist responsible for analyzing drugs seized in criminal cases to taint the evidence thousands of times? It's one of the big unanswered questions in the sprawling scandal that officials say stems from the actions of one person: Annie Dookhan. Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose office has been investigating the scandal, spoke to the press from her Boston office. She said that, so far, no clear motive has emerged…
Three book publishers have agreed to a settlement in price-fixing conspiracy.
Massachusetts residents who bought e-books through the publishers Hachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins Publishers LLC, and Simon & Schuster Inc., in the past two years could get a piece of more than $2 million in restitution, officials say. The three book publishers have agreed to pay more than $69 million to customers across the country who bought e-books from April 1, 2010, through May 21, 2012, to settle allegations of price fixing, according to a press release from the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley. “We found compelling evidence that these companies conspired to fix prices and overcharge consumers for some of the most popular e-book titles,” Coakley said, in the release. “Today’s settlement paves the way for restitution …
MoonBeamWatcher
9:13 pm on Friday, September 28, 2012
Dear Martha: For you as the MA top cop to suggest that MONEY was not involved is unBELIEVABLE . . . Money she earned from a job she was unqualified for and the work opportunity taken from somebody else is MONEY from where I sit! OMG! = Obama Must Go! Along with all the rest of his CABAL! more ›