Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

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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