Thursday, May 9, 2013
Ex-state chemist Annie Dookhan faces 27 charges in six Massachusetts counties related to falsifying test results in drug cases.
A Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that all 27 charges against ex-state drug lab chemist Annie Dookhan will stand despite attempts by her lawyer to get two thrown out. The Boston Herald reports Dookhan’s lawyer Nicolas Gordon argued to try to get two counts of witness intimidation dismissed, but Judge Jeffrey Locke denied Gordon’s attempt. Dookhan, who is accused of falsifying drug case evidence in thousands of cases during her tenure at a Jamaica Plain lab, pleaded not guilty Dec. 19, 2012 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.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Jonathan Vaughn, recently freed after being convicted of drug distribution charges, was arrested in Chelsea Tuesday.
While Annie Dookhan faced charges of her own in court 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 the …
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 …
Friday, October 5, 2012
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. "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. Conley said he has spoken with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis…
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…
As the drug lab scandal continues to unwind, more cases are heading back to court, where judges reduce or remove bail, or overturn convictions. What should the state do to maintain public safety?
The ramifications of the JP drug lab scandal are starting to play out in and out of court. Marcus Pixley skipped his court date yesterday. 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 a Jamaica Plain drug lab where a chemist has admitted to falsifying results and other infractions. The drug lab scandal isn't going away and time soon. As the 34,000 affected cases have samples retested, many will also make their way back to court. Judges have reduced and sometimes set aside bail in affected cases. With yesterday's missed hearing, we now have a fugitive connected to the scandal. …
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
It was announced Monday that Suffolk Superior Court, which handles cases in Boston, will have special court sessions in October to deal with cases in which a so-called "rogue chemist" may have tainted evidence.
The state announced on Monday its latest move to deal with the unprecedented scandal out of the State Drug Lab in Jamaica Plain. Suffolk Superior Court will host a series of sessions dedicated to cases affected by the lab crisis, said Jake Wark, spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney. So-called "rogue chemist" Annie Dookhan is alleged to have tainted evidence in thousands of cases. She was arrested on Friday on charges of obstruction of justice and falsely claiming a university degree. She pleaded not guilty and was freed on $10,000 bail. The Franklin woman is required to wear a GPS monitoring device. The court sessions are expected to be the weeks of Oct. 15 and 22, Wark said. "We are assembling a task force of prosecutors …
Thursday, September 27, 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…
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