A man charged with murdering a Boston man on a South End street corner last summer appeared in court on Monday because a separate drug charge against him was handled by the chemist responsible for the state drug lab scandal. 

However, his case was not touched by the judge. 

Anthony Thames, 28, was charged with first degree murder and firearm possession last year in the fatal shooting of 33-year-old Raymond Lemar near the intersection of East Berkeley and Harrison Avenue last August.  

Shortly after his arrest on that offense, Thames pleaded guilty to several drug charges, including distribution of cocaine. But as it turns out, that cocaine was handled by disgraced chemist Annie Dookhan in the Jamaica Plain state drug lab, a fact that has lead to lowered bail for some defendants, or in some cases, the end of jail time. 

In court on Monday, Judge Christine McEvoy took no action on Thames' case because he is already being held without bail on the murder charge.

More than 1,000 convicted drug dealers are behind bars based on evidence handled by Dookhan. As many as 600 of them may be in Boston. In all, she handled evidence in 34,000 cases over her nine year career.

For all of Jamaica Plain Patch's coverage of the JP Drug Lab Scandal, please visit our topic page on the issue.