this from NPR -- relates to the next post I've put up. Please follow link to original
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http://www.npr.org/2013/03/14/174269211/mass-crime-lab-scandal-reverberates-across-state
A scandal in a Massachusetts crime lab continues to reverberate
throughout the state's legal system. Several months ago, Annie Dookhan, a
former chemist in a state crime lab, told police that she messed up big
time. Dookhan now stands accused of falsifying test results in as many
as 34,000 cases.
As a result, lawyers, prosecutors and judges used to operating in a world of "beyond a reasonable doubt" now have
nothing
but doubt
.
Already,
hundreds of convicts and defendants have been released because of the
scandal. Now, the state's highest court may weigh in on how these cases
should be handled.
"I don't think anyone ever perceived that
one person was capable of causing this much chaos," says Norfolk County
District Attorney Michael Morrisey, one of many DAs now digging through
old drug cases, trying to sort out how many should now be considered
tainted.
"You can see the entire walls full of boxes,"
Morrissey says, gesturing at dusty files piled six feet high in a
conference room near his office. "In
one of these cardboard boxes, there could be hundreds of cases ... in each box."
The cases represent nearly a decade's worth of work that could take years and tens of millions of dollars to review.
For Prosecutors, 'Unsettling And Maddening'
In
Massachusetts, special courts have already heard hundreds of cases of
convicts and defendants arguing they were denied due process. Their
evidence, they argue, was handled — or mishandled — by Annie Dookhan.
In a recent hearing, public defender Julieann
Hernon
is arguing for release of a man charged with selling cocaine and heroin
in a school-zone to an undercover officer. Hernon recites a list of
alleged misconduct by Dookhan.
"It was, we now know, mistesting
evidence, drylabbing evidence, saying she had conducted tests when she
had not, deliberately tainting drugs," she says.
Hernon's client had pleaded guilty, but now, Hernon says, he should be allowed to take it back.
"Certainly, I think, we have to presume a taint here when Annie Dookhan was the chemist in the case," Hernon tells the judge.
The
whole dynamic in court has now flipped in Massachusetts. Defendants
tend to smile while prosecutors watch their cases crumble. Today,
Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Tom Finigan tells the court
that the Commonwealth will not oppose Hernon's motion.
"It's
unsettling and maddening, because you're now going to have a lot of
people get released to the street prematurely," says Middlesex County
District attorney Gerry Leone, one of many hoping the state supreme
court will curb the releases.
While some defendants could still
be on the hook for gun or assault charges, for example, he says most
drug cases where Dookhan was the primary chemist will be impossible to
re-prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
But Leone says it's unclear
where to draw the line. Some offenders, he says, are just trying to
jump on the bandwagon, arguing that
every test from that lab should be considered tainted.
"If
someone's in jail, they're doing downtime," Leone says. "So there's no
reason to try to file something that gets you back before the court."
In
another recent case, defense attorney William Sullivan successfully
argued to withdraw a client's guilty plea in a case where Dookhan was a
secondary chemist.
"This is a lab that was pretty much wholly
and fully contaminated by Ms. Annie Dookhan," Sullivan told the judge.
"She had full access to everyone's drugs."
While the judge
decided in his client's favor, Sullivan is quick to add that clients
like his also have plenty of reason to be bitter.
"The tragedy is that he's already did four years on this," Sullivan says. "I mean, that is disturbing in itself."
Other
defendants have lost jobs, driver's licenses, kids and marriages, and
many have been deported. And in federal court, many defendants received
stiffer sentences, because of prior state convictions based on evidence
from Annie Dookhan.
With Hundreds Now Free, Police On High Alert
Defense
attorneys say it's taking too long to handle these cases individually.
They want the state's highest court to order that Dookhan cases should
be presumed to be tainted and automatically put on hold.
It may
look like defendants are getting a "get out of jail free" card,
Sullivan says, but the focus must be on whether they got a fair trial.
"I
think we put on blinders when we're doing these cases," Sullivan says.
"You try to do the right thing for your client to make sure that they
get proper representation. And if that means it gets them off, it gets
them off."
With hundreds of former defendants already off and out on city streets, police remain on high alert.
"These
people are not first time offenders or small time drug dealers," says
Boston police sergeant James Machado. "I know there will be
consequence[s] of this. And unfortunately, innocent people will be
killed."
Already, about 20 of those released have been
re-arrested for new crimes. Boston police commissioner Edward Davis says
Boston hasn't seen the surge in violence that some feared, but he — and
his officers — worry it's yet to come.
"They shake their heads. You know, they're disgusted by what's happened," Davis says. "We have to start from zero again."
Davis
says he's been sending an officer to meet with each defendant or
convict just before release to offer services like job training — and to
issue a warning.
"We tell them, 'Listen, we know what you were
doing before and we're watching you. And if you go back into the life,
that Dookhan's not there anymore. So when you go [back] in on this
charge, it's gonna stick,'" Davis says.
Annie Dookhan is currently facing charges of her own: 27 counts of perjury, tampering with evidence and obstructing justice.
At
the same time, civil suits are also starting to pile up, as those
accused of crimes based on Dookhan's evidence now accuse Dookhan of
violating their right to a fair trial.
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