Crime & Safety
Cases Unrelated to JP Drug Lab Scandal Rushed to Court
In a hastily called court session Friday morning to address cases potentially tainted by the State Drug Lab scandal, six of the first seven cases turned out to have nothing to do with chemist Annie Dookhan.
Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley pointedly criticized a court session Friday morning as a waste of time and resources.
The session was to address 19 cases with supposed links to State Drug Lab chemist Annie Dookhan. She is accused of tainting evidence in 34,000 cases over many years.
Six of the first seven cases called Friday turned out to have nothing to do with Dookhan, however.
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"The leadership of this court should be embarrassed," Conley said to a scrum of media during a court recess.
Conley was careful to say that the judge in charge on Friday, Judge Mary Ann Driscoll, is not to blame for the court administration's bad planning.
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Conley said he has spoken with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis about the likelihood of convicted drug dealers flooding back onto the streets of the city. He said authorities have a message for the up to 500 dealers who may go free.
"We are not going to let this city turn into a drug haven now that you're back," Conley said.
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