Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Luis Quiles, who nearly pleaded guilty to drug charges Sept. 6, was arrested by MBTA police this week.
A man who was set to plead guilty to drug distribution charges but held off earlier this week due to the drug lab scandal was once again arrested. Luis Quiles, 41, faced a charge of receiving stolen property in Boston Municipal Court Monday, according to Jake Wark, press secretary for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. MBTA police arrested Quiles with another man at the Chinatown Station Monday morning. He later admitted to stealing 13 wristwatches from Macy’s, according to Boston.com. Quiles was going to plead guilty to drug distribution charges Sept. 6 but prosecutors asked for a continuance because Annie Dookhan, the state chemist who allegedly mishandled evidence in an undetermined number of drug cases at the Jamaica Plain …
Since September, four people facing serious drug charges have been issued a continuance or otherwise freed due to the state drug lab crisis only to be arrested a subsequent time.
Four violent convicts have been released and re-arrested in the wake of the state drug lab scandal, and a Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office spokesman says if the trends play out as they should, it’s only the beginning. In most cases involving evidence that was tested by Annie Dookhan, the state drug lab chemist who allegedly mishandled evidence in thousands of cases, prosecutors have been able to negotiate pleas and have not had to re-litigate, Suffolk County DA spokesman Jake Wark said in an interview. If the facts surrounding a case involve evidence that does not have to do directly with Dookhan, the conviction will typically stand, according to documents provided by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. But what happens…
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Governor Deval Patrick on Monday picked the state's inspector general, Glenn Cunha, to lead a widespread probe of what went wrong at the State Drug Lab in JP, where thousands of cases may have been compromised.
Gov. Deval Patrick has tapped the state's inspector general to lead a wide-ranging probe of the State Drug Lab, where evidence in thousands of cases may have been compromised. "The governor called for an independent assessment of the drug lab to complement the ongoing criminal and central office investigations into chemist Annie Dookhan’s wrongdoing and to determine whether the lab’s failures are limited to Dookhan and her supervisors and managers, all of whom have been removed from their positions," the governor's office said in a statement. Inspector General Glenn Cunha, a former managing attorney at the Attorney General's office, will look at systemic issues while Attorney General Martha Coakley focuses solely on criminal prosecution of…
Friday, October 19, 2012
A court session this week appeared to go smoothly as at least 10 drug dealers had their convictions put on hold as a result of the scandal at the State Drug Lab in Jamaica Plain.
An air of normality is settling in to the extraordinary business of setting convicted drug dealers free as Suffolk County courts deal with the fallout from the State Drug Lab scandal. This week Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Christine McEvoy heard from convict after convict whose cases may have been tainted by disgraced chemist Annie Dookhan. During the Monday morning session, about 10 convicts had their sentences "stayed." That means they can provisionally go free provided they meet any bail requirements and aren't serving time for offenses unconnected to Dookhan. She's accused of tainting drug evidence in cases involving up to 34,000 defendants during her nine years as an analyst at the State Drug Lab in Jamaica Plain. In the …
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 …
