Suffolk County judges have freed at least 11 defendants facing drug charges, almost all with lengthy criminal records, since early September, in the first wave of potentially thousands of cases that have been gravely compromised by the burgeoning scandal at the state drug lab.
All the defendants were in jail awaiting trial on charges related to selling cocaine, heroin, or other drugs, but judges agreed to release them or drastically reduce their bail because evidence in their cases was analyzed by Annie Dookhan, the state chemist accused of altering test results and mishandling evidence. Charges against the defendants were not dropped, but defense attorneys say it is unlikely their clients can ever be convicted, based on evidence that could be tainted.
Comments
Honest to god, that Deval Patrick is one hell of a competent Governor.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this enormous breach of the public trust occurred entirely under his watch.
Deval Patrick, like his despicable mentor M. Stanley Dukakis are diminutive social planning, do-gooders who are enough to make ya sick!
idiot!! it is NOT the governor it's the Nanny mentality of MA citizens!
I'd take these so called innocent druggies and shoot them!
cairokid - Obviously you're a danger to society and should be locked up yourself.
I think we all better check ourselves in to one of the states facilities to protect ourselves from all the vermin they are letting out of the said institutions. Technically speaking of course.
But in July, State Police investigators discovered that Dookhan’s potential misconduct was far greater than previously believed and that she may have deliberately altered the weight of drug samples and purposely mishandled samples for reasons that are still unclear.
The reasons are clear to her. She was either on a personal mission to remove from the streets at whatever cost the "druggie evil doers" or she was accomodating the equally over zealous prosecution for benefits we know not of.
On the whole I don't think this is quite as bad as it might seem. Our sentences for drugs are far too harsh in my opinion for a non-violent crime.
I someone is violent, they should be prosecuted and sentenced for that crime, rather than for drugs. Some of these sentences may have been the result of plea bargains or a failure of the district attorney offices to prosecute the worst charge rather than the easiest charge.
I suppose the paper could look it their archives but I remember a verdict on Massachusetts forensics some time ago. I think it was a Globe Magazine Spotlight report of some length . Unlike the capsule stories of today in the Magazine. The report practically said that Massachusets was a good place to murder someone. That the State Lab was in total disarray , problems, unprofessional. I just see this as another case of no on watching , thwatcher was, who watch the ...