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ch1ck3n.s0up
Troubled Loner



Registered: 10/03/08
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Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case
#19176555 - 11/22/13 09:07 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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This is mind-blowing
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/22/justice/massachusetts-chemist-plea/index.html?iref=allsearch
STORY HIGHLIGHTS Annie Dookhan pleads guilty to tampering with evidence, perjury, obstruction of justice 300 drug convictions have been put on hold in one county alone Dookhan cut corners in criminal cases, altered samples to cover up Authorities: One person set free because of Dookhan went on to kill someone Governor: 40,000 defendants could be affected
Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case By Susan Candiotti, Yon Pomrenze and Jason Hanna, CNN updated 6:43 PM EST, Fri November 22, 2013 Watch this video Crime lab chemist tampers with evidence
(CNN) -- A former Massachusetts crime lab chemist accused of mishandling evidence affecting hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of criminal cases was sentenced Friday to three to five years in prison after pleading guilty to 27 counts. Annie Dookhan, 36, was arrested last year, accused of cutting corners by visually identifying alleged drug samples instead of performing chemical tests, and then altering the samples to cover up the practice. More than 300 drug convictions involving Dookhan's tests -- conducted from 2003 to 2012 -- have been put on hold since last year in Suffolk County alone, Suffolk County District Attorney spokesman Jake Wark said. Dookhan also was accused of falsely claiming, while testifying as an expert witness at a criminal trial, that she had a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts. A defendant's conviction was overturned because of this, and authorities allege he killed someone in May, after his release. "Annie Dookhan's egregious misconduct sent ripple effects throughout our entire criminal justice system," Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement. "Her deliberate decision to tamper with drug evidence and fabricate test results harmed the integrity of the system and put the public's safety at risk." Dookhan pleaded guilty Friday to tampering with evidence, perjury, obstruction of justice and falsely claiming to holding a master's degree. She said little during Friday's hearing in Boston, other than repeatedly saying, "Yes, your honor," to questions such as whether she understood the consequences of her guilty pleas. The judge also ordered that she serve two years of probation after serving the prison time. Governor: 40,000 defendants could be affected In August, Gov. Deval Patrick's administration said the cases of more than 40,000 defendants could be affected by Dookhan's tampering. Reviews of all the cases she handled are under way. Dookhan worked as a state chemist testing drug evidence submitted by law enforcement agencies from 2003 until March 2012, when she resigned, according to the Massachusetts attorney general's office. The attorney general's office began a criminal investigation in July 2012, after Massachusetts State Police were tipped off by Dookhan's co-workers, who alleged her work at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory in Jamaica Plain might be unreliable. The investigation revealed that Dookhan allegedly had tampered with evidence by altering substances in vials that were being tested at the state lab, allegedly to cover up the practice of routinely "dry labbing" samples. "Dry labbing" is a term used for visually identifying samples instead of performing the required chemical test. Authorities arrested Dookhan at her home in Franklin in September 2012. Second Massachusetts state chemist accused of tampering Authorities: Released man accused in killing Dookhan's false testimony about her credentials in a Plymouth County drug trial led to the release of a man who went on to be accused of murder, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said. Donta Hood was convicted of a cocaine charge in 2009, in a trial in which Dookhan -- as an expert witness -- falsely testified that she had a master's degree, authorities said. Hood was released in November 2012. Cruz said he wasn't able to retry Evans on the drug charge because the evidence in the case was destroyed. Storage space had been at a premium, he said, and no one thought it would be needed again. After his release, Hood was arrested twice -- first, on a gun possession charge. While out on bail for the gun charge, he allegedly shot and killed Charles Evans in Brockton, Massachusetts, in May, authorities said. "There's no bigger pain than somebody being released that goes out and kills somebody," Cruz told CNN. Evans' family declined to comment. Chemist in Massachusetts drug sample case lied about degree Dookhan also declined CNN's request for comment about her case. At a court proceeding earlier this year, Dookhan's lawyer, Nicholas Gordon, said that she took shortcuts in the lab to get more cases done to help her career, never considering the negative consequences it could have for criminal cases. "The furthest thing from her mind is that this is going to ultimately cost millions of dollars, (And that) it's going to throw the entire Massachusetts criminal justice system into a tailspin," Gordon said in court. An investigation revealed that not only did Dookhan not have a master's degree, but she never took master's-level classes, prosecutors said. Some of the obstruction charges stem from instances in which authorities relied on tampered evidence in criminal proceedings, prosecutors said.
-------------------- "Inspiration ~ Move me brightly ~ light the song with sense and color ~ hold away despair ~ more than this I will not ask ~ faced with mysteries dark and vast ~ statements just seem vain at last" --Jerry Garcia, Terrapin Station "Officer, I'm going to remain silent, and I would like to speak with a lawyer. I'm not resisting, but I don't consent to any searches.
Edited by ch1ck3n.s0up (11/22/13 09:11 PM)
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Fungi
Psycho4ctive


Registered: 09/29/13
Posts: 393
Loc: Melbourne
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: ch1ck3n.s0up] 5
#19176622 - 11/22/13 09:22 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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So she has destroyed 1000sof innocent lives and gets 5 years max? People go away for that for touching weed and men get double life sentences for making LSD which has never killed anyone.
Seems really just and fair!
-------------------- Formerly known as Psycho4ctive To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic, Just Take a Pinch of Psychedelic
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Magick
Thinker


Registered: 01/25/09
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: Fungi]
#19176683 - 11/22/13 09:37 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Well I'm glad she's going to see the inside of a prison cell, and that her career is pretty much destroyed. However, I do think she should've gotten a longer sentence. What she did was quite evil.
Kinda wonder if she's gonna happen to meet any of the people she sent to prison inside. If so, she's gonna be in a world of pain!
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DebuteMachine

Registered: 09/29/06
Posts: 6,457
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: Magick]
#19176754 - 11/22/13 09:56 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Magick said: Well I'm glad she's going to see the inside of a prison cell, and that her career is pretty much destroyed. However, I do think she should've gotten a longer sentence. What she did was quite evil.
Kinda wonder if she's gonna happen to meet any of the people she sent to prison inside. If so, she's gonna be in a world of pain!
That's the plan!
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Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,963
Loc: Uncanny Valley
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: Fungi]
#19176874 - 11/22/13 11:00 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Fungi said: So she has destroyed 1000sof innocent lives
We don't know that. Nothing in the article says how many innocent people were convicted based on her "tests." Most likely, most of the people convicted had drugs....very few people ride around with baggies of corn starch in their car, for instance.
Having said that, it's almost certain that she did send some innocent people to prison or probation. Whether it's a lot or a few, it's still fucked up.
-------------------- Censoring opposing views since 2014. Ask an Attorney Fuck the Amish
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aw11driver



Registered: 08/19/11
Posts: 947
Loc: land of blue foot
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: DebuteMachine]
#19176925 - 11/22/13 11:21 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Makes you wonder how many other chemist around the country are doing similar shit.
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AbstraKt_I_Am


Registered: 12/21/10
Posts: 1,898
Loc: Abroad.
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: aw11driver]
#19177419 - 11/23/13 01:46 AM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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She could die in prison. None of us know what karma has in store for her except that its not going to be good.
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Adden

Registered: 06/04/03
Posts: 39,201
Loc:
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: AbstraKt_I_Am]
#19177934 - 11/23/13 07:42 AM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Oh great, this fucking gal.. 
I hope she gets killed in prison.
Be pretty sweet if someone just plucked her head off her shoulders outside the courthouse.
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hidenseek1
Its got all the dinks.
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: Adden]
#19178104 - 11/23/13 09:02 AM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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did i miss the part on how she got caught?
-------------------- You can drink at 7 A.M., because the Beastie Boys fought for that right -------------------------------------------------------------------------- pons asinorum -------------------------------------------------------------------------- lsd and the vietnam war changed music forever
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Rockhound
The Rockweiler



Registered: 01/19/13
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: hidenseek1]
#19178254 - 11/23/13 09:57 AM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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This is a follow up to previous story, if it doesn't all make sense. Three to Five? Are you fucking kidding me? What do you think enlil, about the right sentence? Should I feel justice has been served and let it go?
-------------------- Rocks speak to me, and tell me this: The Hell Creek formation is a gigantic slab of rocks that covers several western states. It contains an account of the dinosaurs' demise. In the late Cretaceous period, the first Cannabis species appear, and soon after, all the non-bird dinosaurs disappeared. Obviously, marihuana killed the dinosaurs. That giant meteor that smacked the yucatan peninsula right afterwards, coincidence.
Edited by Rockhound (11/23/13 10:05 AM)
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Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,963
Loc: Uncanny Valley
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Re: Ex-Massachusetts chemist gets 3 to 5 years in tampering case [Re: Rockhound]
#19178341 - 11/23/13 10:22 AM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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3 to five years is a long time to go to prison for a plea to a first offense of a non-violent crime, no matter how you look at it.
The mess she left will take a long time to unravel, though. So many cases are going to have to be looked at again.
-------------------- Censoring opposing views since 2014. Ask an Attorney Fuck the Amish
Edited by Enlil (11/23/13 10:28 AM)
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