Thursday, January 31, 2013
Annie Dookhan, the former employee at the center of the state drug lab crisis, pleaded not guilty to more charges on Wednesday.
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 on Wednesday, Jan. 30 according to WHDH.com. Dookhan pleaded not guilty to 15 charges in Suffolk Superior Court on 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 …
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 that 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 released Wednesday. The board will consist of the secretary of public safety and security, the attorney general, the inspector general and the colonel of state police, or their designees, along with one appointee from the governor, according to the statement. “We need to create a new infrastructure of oversight, accountability, transparency and integrity, and this legislation will …
Friday, January 11, 2013
Jonathan Vaughn, recently freed after being convicted of drug distribution charges, was arrested in Chelsea on Tuesday.
While Annie Dookhan faced charges of her own in court on Wednesday, a convicted criminal, free because of Dookhan’s malfeasance, was being arraigned on charges stemming from a Tuesday night arrest. Jonathan Vaughan, 26, was drinking Natural Ice beer at a Chelsea McDonalds Tuesday night. Police arrived and arrested Vaughan. As they escorted him out of the establishment, he began to thrash violently against the officers and was eventually restrained, according to a statement from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office. While being escorted, Vaughan allegedly said, “I just got out on Annie Dookhan and I ain’t going back to jail,” according to the statement. Police found eight baggies of suspected crack cocaine on Vaughan, according to …
Thursday, January 10, 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 …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The state drug lab chemist who is accused of 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. Assistant 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
Annie Dookhan allegedly mishandled evidence in thousands of Massachusetts 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 on Monday, 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 …
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
According to a Boston Herald report, state health officials did not launch an investigation into the Hinton Drug Lab until Aug. 31, after Gov. Patrick ordered the lab be shut down.
The former Jamaica Plain drug lab mired in controversial decisions and poor oversight was not immediately investigated after it was discovered that Annie Dookhan had been mishandling evidence. The Boston Herald reported Wednesday that state health officials waited seven months to launch a full investigation into the Hinton Drug Lab despite finding out that Dookhan, the state lab chemist who mishandled thousands of state police criminal drug samples, had already mishandled 90 cases. Secretary of Health and Human Services JudyAnn Bigby and former state Department of Public Health commissioner John Auerbach launched the investigation Aug. 31 following Gov. Deval Patrick’s decision to shut the lab down, according to emails obtained by the …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The state drug lab chemist accused of mishandling evidence at a Jamaica Plain facility will face further charges.
The chemist who faces charges related to the mishandling of evidence in thousands of state drug cases will face further charges. WCVB.com reported Tuesday that indictments against Annie Dookhan, the state drug lab chemist accused of mishandling evidence in thousands of drug cases, are forthcoming. State Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office filed a motion in Boston Municipal Court Tuesday asking to reschedule a pretrial hearing from Dec. 3 to Dec. 20 because the investigation is ongoing with "indictments expected," according to WCVB.com. Dookhan has preliminarily been charged with obstruction of justice and falsifying academic credentials.
Since September, four people facing serious drug charges have been issued a continuance or otherwise freed because of the state drug lab crisis only to be arrested a subsequent time.
Four violent convicts have been released and re-arrested in the wake of the state drug lab scandal, and a Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office spokesman said if the trends play out as they should, it’s only the beginning. In most cases involving evidence that was tested by Annie Dookhan, the state drug lab chemist who allegedly mishandled evidence in thousands of cases, prosecutors have been able to negotiate pleas and have not had to re-litigate, Suffolk County DA spokesman Jake Wark said in an interview. If the facts surrounding a case involve evidence that does not have to do directly with Dookhan, the conviction will typically stand, according to documents provided by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. But what happens…
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Governor Deval Patrick on Monday picked the state's inspector general, Glenn Cunha, to lead a widespread probe of what went wrong at the State Drug Lab in JP, where thousands of cases may have been compromised.
Governor Deval Patrick has tapped the state's inspector general to lead a wide-ranging probe of the State Drug Lab, where evidence in thousands of cases may have been compromised. "The governor called for an independent assessment of the drug lab to complement the ongoing criminal and central office investigations into chemist Annie Dookhan’s wrongdoing and to determine whether the lab’s failures are limited to Dookhan and her supervisors and managers, all of whom have been removed from their positions," the governor's office said in a statement. Inspector General Glenn Cunha, a former managing attorney at the Attorney General's office, will look at systemic issues while the attorney general herself, Martha Coakley, focuses solely on …
greg rhodes
11:10 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
I am a victim of mrs dookhans malfeasance. Thanks to her dry labbing my sample at Hinton, I was charged with a much harsher crime than rightfully imposed. I have lost everything since this has happened, and I am still in court now trying to get my record fixed. Her negligence has cost me relationships, freedom, and a great amount of money. I will never get these things back. Greg Rhodes … more ›