Wednesday, January 9, 2013
New details have emerged in the ongoing Hinton Drug Lab crisis.
While disgraced state lab chemist Annie Dookhan was in court today, The Boston Globe unearthed new details in the state drug lab saga including a plea by her husband to not 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 Annie Dookhan was caught removed 90 drug samples …
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 …
Monday, October 8, 2012
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 JP, 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 were tested at…
Friday, September 28, 2012
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 …
In a live chat on Patch Thursday, Gov. Deval Patrick said he approves of the extraordinary step of allowing release to defense attorneys of State Police interviews with alleged "rogue chemist" Annie Dookhan.
Gov. Deval Patrick took part in a live chat on Patch Thursday. In it, he spoke about the scandal engulfing the State Drug Lab in Jamaica Plain. That's where so-called "rogue chemist" Annie Dookhan is alleged to have tainted the evidence in as many as 34,000 cases. Thousands of drug dealers behind bars could go free (and some have already been released.) Asked by Patch for a progress report on the mammoth task of dealing with the fallout, here's what the governor typed: The criminal investigation is ongoing. Yesterday, in a very unusual move, prosecutors gave defense attorneys all the notes of State Police interviews of witnesses to date, including the notes of the interview of Annie Dookhan, the chemist at the center of this. Given the …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The chemist whom the state blames for tainting evidence in thousands of drug cases appears to have lied on the witness stand about having a master's degree in chemistry.
Officials have added perjury to claims against a "rogue chemist" at the shuttered state drug lab in Jamaica Plain. It emerged Tuesday that Annie Dookhan, whose actions may have tainted 34,000 drug cases, appears to have lied in court by claiming a master's degree in chemistry. Dookhan, formerly known as Annie Khan, earned an undergraduate bachelor of science degree in biochemistry from UMass Boston in 2001. But, in contradiction of her testimony in a 2010 drug case, she doesn't have a master's. "We have no record of her doing subsequent graduate work at our campus," a UMass official told the Associated Press. 'No one has heard her side' Meanwhile, as convicted criminals have begun to be freed in cases where Dookhan's evidence was used, the…
