MA Prosecutors move to toss 21,587 drug convictions after chemist caught tampering with evidence

[Atreus21]

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/w...-after-chemist-caught-tampering-with-evidence

Talk about betraying the public trust.

BOSTON — Prosecutors moved to throw out more than 21,000 drug convictions on Tuesday, five years after a chemist at the state drug lab was caught tampering with evidence and falsifying tests.

The state’s highest court had ordered district attorneys in seven counties to produce lists by Tuesday indicating how many of approximately 24,000 cases involving Annie Dookhan they would be unable or unwilling to prosecute if the defendants were granted new trials.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said Tuesday night that 21,587 cases had been recommended for dismissal. It said that would be the largest dismissal of criminal convictions in U.S. history.

The cases would be formally dismissed by court action, expected Thursday, the ACLU said.

“Today is a major victory for justice and fairness, and for thousands of people in the commonwealth who were unfairly convicted of drug offences,” Matthew Segal, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said Tuesday in a statement.

Dookhan pleaded guilty in 2013 to obstruction of justice, perjury and tampering with evidence after being accused of falsifying her work as far back as 2004. She was sentenced to three years in prison and was paroled last year.

Three freaking years. Is that just?

 

[highland145]

Yeah 3 years sucks but Nifong only got 1 day. It's good to be on the law's side especially when you break it.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I would be thrilled if this was the flick that got the ball rolling on ending the War on Drugs. I wonder what percentage of current incarcerated inmates arrested since that lab was in use this is.

 

[IronWing]

I would be thrilled if this was the flick that got the ball rolling on ending the War on Drugs. I wonder what percentage of current incarcerated inmates arrested since that lab was in use this is.

Jeff Sessions > common sense and decency

 

[Atreus21]

I would be thrilled if this was the flick that got the ball rolling on ending the War on Drugs. I wonder what percentage of current incarcerated inmates arrested since that lab was in use this is.

Or, hell, have a war on drugs if you want, but kindly don't falsify drug tests.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Or, hell, have a war on drugs if you want, but kindly don't falsify drug tests.

Well, those insisting on the war on drugs weren't necessarily the ones falsifying the drug tests. They were certainly financially supporting those performing them though so that could be considered too close for comfort.

 

[Jaskalas]

five years after...

Was the government hoping the innocent died of old age first? A shameful disgrace it took that long, and they're still not free.

 

[ch33zw1z]

All involved in the fraud go directly to jail, do not pass go, no get out of jail free cards allowed. All sorts of effed up

 

[woolfe9998]

Old story that I started a thread about last month:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...tions-to-be-overturned.2502644/#post-38819257

And yes, it's shocking that this many convictions can be overturned by the dishonesty of one person. The cost to tax payers alone is insane.

 

[shortylickens]

I wonder how many of them were simple possession and never belonged in jail to begin with.

 

[Sunburn74]

Honestly why did they wait 5 years to throw out convictions? Can you imagine being innocent and then waiting 5 extra years for release due "clerical stuff"?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Welcome to the criminal justice system created by the War on Drugs.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Old story that I started a thread about last month:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...tions-to-be-overturned.2502644/#post-38819257

And yes, it's shocking that this many convictions can be overturned by the dishonesty of one person. The cost to tax payers alone is insane.

I thought there was another one, I didn't do a good enough search via tapatalk

 

[HamburgerBoy]

We need a prison cap, a given state and the federal government each allowed to imprison a maximum of, say 100 per 100k (roughly the European average with Russia excluded). Ideally the cap would be directly related to the numbers of lawyers and judges available, no idea what the optimal ratio would be off-hand, but given our current problem I figure European levels are a good rough start. When they hit that cap, they have to either hire more legal officials to ensure adequate investigation and representation, release current prisoners, or neglect to file charges.

 

[Atreus21]

Old story that I started a thread about last month:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...tions-to-be-overturned.2502644/#post-38819257

And yes, it's shocking that this many convictions can be overturned by the dishonesty of one person. The cost to tax payers alone is insane.

Oop. Mods if you want to merge this with Wolfe's thread, feel free.

 

[Sunburn74]

Personally I'd like to see more crimes reclassified as misdemeanors and more routing first time offenders convicted of most crimes to the military.

 

[theeedude]

Wait, they waited 5 years to do this? They were OK with thousands of innocent people serving 5 years prison time while they sat on their hands?

 

[Jaskalas]

Wait, they waited 5 years to do this? They were OK with thousands of innocent people serving 5 years prison time while they sat on their hands?

I think the simple answer for how that happened is legal process. If they can delay, delay, delay... then they opt to do so. So maybe they set a requirement for a handful of people to review 21 thousand cases. Oh, it takes 5 years to do that? So sorry folks, better luck next life. When someone screams bureaucracy, this sort of failure to act is what they cite.

 

[Darwin333]

What is even crazier is that she is out of jail before the people that she helped to wrongfully convict.

 

[highland145]

Anyone know if MA has a cap on wrongful conviction settlements or even pays anything?