Articles Posted in Drug Offenses

The ramifications of the Commonwealth’s latest law enforcement travesty continues. The review of various cases tainted at the hands of the credibility-challenged drug lab chemist Annie Dookhan (hereinafter, “Exchemist”) continue. The apparently wrongful incarceration of various Massachusetts prisoners, however, are coming to an end. At least for a little while.

This week’s Attorney Sam’s Takes have been focused on this ever-changing story, as well as the cries of impending doom to us all by the chief law enforcement of Suffolk County, Daniel Conley. Today, we bring you the reaction from the District Attorney of another county…and the illness it has apparently caused him.

Take, for example, the case of Jeff Lucien. Two years ago, Quincy police claimed that he sold them cocaine in a school zone. When he was confronted by the evidence the Commonwealth said it had, he pleaded guilty in return for a five-year prison sentence. Two days ago, Lucien walked into the Dedham courthouse from which he had been sentenced. He came out free and carrying his child.

Lucien’s five-year sentence, still at three years to go, has been vacated. His plea has been thrown out and his case reverted back to pretrial status.
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Apparently, Annie Dookhan (hereinafter, “Exchemist”), the chemist at the center of the Commonwealth’s drug lab problems, may have been estranged from veracity for longer than we thought.

As you would imagine, in order to even get her job at the lab, she had to show that she was qualified. She had to be educated in the field. And she was…so she said. Her resume indicates that she had a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

That was fine…until the University of Massachusetts Boston became aware of the claim. Now that Exchemist has achieved some amount of infamy…the school has learned of it.

They show that the claim is not true. Close, though. She did request an application for the program…she just never completed it. Apparently, her education ended in 2001 when she finished undergraduate school.

Of course, falsifying a resume is not perjury, per se. After all, the resume is not under oath. Unless it is part of an application which is under the threat of perjury.

Which her job application was.

But that’s ok. testifying on the stand, while under oath, is perjury. We now know that she did that about her alleged degree on at least one occasion in August, 2010.

Of course, that may not be a big deal to someone who apparently was lying about so much else under oath for the last previous years.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Criminal Crime Fighters

As you know, I have combined the odyssey of Exchemist with the history of Detective Johnson earlier this year to ask, “and we believe that this is the only time this has happened….why?
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David Meier, a fellow former prosecutor turned criminal defense attorney, as Attorney Sam’s Take told you last week, is the lawyer placed in charge of assessing the extent of the state drug lab scandal. His findings thus far reflect that 690 people are in state prison and 450 people are in county jails or houses of correction due to evidence that may have been mishandled at the lab.

So far.

After all, he was only appointed last week. Further, as he himself points out, the first priority of the investigation was to find out who is actually incarcerated in cases which were handled in some way by what the Commonwealth wants to write off as a “rogue chemist”. Her name is Annie Dookhan. In this blog she is generally referred to as “Exchemist”.

“We are doing our human best” to expedite the process, Meier explained. “We are taking it one step at a time.”

The next step will apparently be to try to identify other people whose cases involved the taint who are still awaiting trial, people charged in federal cases, and people involved in cases that are already closed.

Meanwhile, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley continues to shout to the heavens about the horrors of some of these people being freed. As mentioned yesterday, his prosecutorial sky is falling. He warns the public that prisoners who could soon be released include, “high-level dealers, violent felons, and armed gunmen.”

Oh, yes. By the way, they apparently include innocent folks too.

Just sayin’…!

Attorney Sam’s Take On Tainted Drug Evidence

For those of you wondering what the big deal is here, let me share a bit more of the alleged admissions of Exchemist. We have previously discussed that she admitted ignoring protocols created to protect against taint and that she may have fiddled with amounts of drugs found in substances. Apparently, she has now also admitted to mixing drug samples to actually create positive results as well as increasing weights on drug samples.
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With each day, the scandal over the Boston-based State Crime Lab and its problems in the testing of illegal drugs is becoming more and more serious. For example, Suffolk County judges have freed at least 11 defendants facing drug charges. Said defendants range from no record to lengthy criminal records.

These defendants were in jail awaiting trial on drug charges. Their cases had been touched by ex-chemist Annie Dookhan (“Exchemist”). Such touching, like any other disease, has tainted the cases. Severely.

Prosecutors, as one might expect, are not happy. As has recently been the case (again) with ex-prosecutor Christopher Darden of O.J. Simpson fame, prosecutors tend to whine when something like this happens. Partiularly when it is this embarassing.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley has already taken a position fitting as we near the holiday of Halloween. He may as well wear a scary mask as he tries to frighten the citizenry.

“We have an obligation to protect every defendant’s constitutional rights, and we embrace it,” Conley decries, “But we can’t lose sight of the massive public safety implications here. A large number of dangerous individuals could be released right back to our streets and neighborhoods.” He continues to complain that some of the prisoners who could soon be released include “high-level dealers, violent felons, and armed gunmen.”

Translation: “Aw, come on….I know we have to honor that constitution-thing and yadda-yadda-yadda…but these folks who are presumed innocent unless I can prove them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (which I now might not be able to do) are getting free!”

In other words, the prosecutorial sky is falling.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Prosecutorial Responsibility

As time has gone by, matters are getting worse from the prosecutorial viewpoint.
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It is the Parole Board debacle all over again… except this time it is richly deserved. Due to the recently discovered failures of the Boston crime lab caused by ex-chemist Annie Dookhan (hereinafter, “Exchemist”) Massachusetts drug cases over the past several years are now subject to motions and appeals. Now, Commonwealth personnel are shifting as law enforcement is scrambling.

Governor Deval Patrick has named someone to lead a team of law enforcement officials and defense lawyers to investigate the fears of widespread tampering at a state drug laboratory. As in the case of the Parole Board, said leader is naturally a former high level prosecutor. In this case, his name is David Meier.

The announcement came just before two men were freed from prison because Exchemist and the fact that she may have tainted evidence in their cases.

Attorney Meier said he would approach the daunting task not as a prosecutor, ­defense attorney, or judge, but “as an ­advocate for fairness and due process on behalf of the criminal justice system.”

I have dealt with Mr. Meier in a few cases. He is a good man and has a great deal of experience in the Massachusetts criminal justice system.

“The job of the office is to make sure no one falls through the cracks,” Patrick said at a Beacon Hill press conference with Meier, who spent 20 years as a ­Suffolk County prosecutor ­before entering private practice.
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Soon, I have to think that just mentioning a drug case to Boston’s law enforcement community is soon going to produce nervous ticks on their faces. The higher up the ladder you go, the worse the twitch.

Today, Attorney Sam’s Take discuss a police investigation into special treatment of a Boston Fire Department lieutenant in a bust earlier this month.

To put it bluntly, the other two people accused of possessing drugs for sale were arrested. However, BFD Lt. Paul Souza, 53, of Braintree (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) who seemed as culpable as the others was not. He simply received a summons to present himself in court on his own.

“An initial review of the facts and circumstances indicates the sergeant in charge of the operation, who made the decision not to arrest one of the suspects, may have made an error in judgment,” police spokeswoman Cheryl Fiandaca said in a statement.

“The incident is now under review.”
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The recent discovery of at least one chemist’s inaccurate (to be generous) testing of illegal drugs is beginning what could become an avalanche of appeals, motions for new trials and motions to vacate plea bargains. In the meantime, the Jamaica Plain crime lab has been closed.

Unlike the thefts of evidence by Detective Johnson, which came to light months ago, this exposure of the underbelly of the Commonwealth’s law enforcement is being noticed for more than a week. This Attorney Sam’s Take applauds that and wonders…for how long?

It does not only effect pending cases, but has far-reaching effects back to 2003 and closed cases since then. If the evidence held by the Commonwealth was falsified, whether by negligence, recklessness or intentionally, any convictions based upon that evidence is tainted and may well have to be thrown out.

According to the Boston Globe, ex-chemist Annie Dookhan was involved in the testing and prosecution of over 50,000 drug samples. That is said to reflect about 34,000 criminal defendants.
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Hello and happy Labor Day.

Speaking of which, Boston’s law enforcement is about to have some extra labor it is going to have to shoulder. Particularly prosecutors.

I was on CBS Thursday night discussing this one in case you happenned to tune into the 11:00 pm news. It is a story which is likely to bring new problems to the prosecution of drug crimes in the Commonwealth.

In order to prove a case of possession or distribution of illegal drugs, the prosecution must prove that the material in question is indeed the illegal substance it says it is. Further, in many cases, the weight of the substance is also an ellement of the crime. In order to prove these elements, the prosecution relies upon chemists who test and weigh the substances, provide a written report and then testify at trial.

Usually, the one witness the prosecution can call at trial and not have to worry about too much cross-examination is the chemist.

Until now, that is.
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