STORY: "Perjury allegation prompts judge's rebuke," by reporters Matt Stout and O'Ryan Johnson, published by the Boston Herald on October 6, 2012.
GIST: "A lawyer for an accused drug dealer whose Suffolk Superior Court charges were the first to be tossed out yesterday in the wake of a state drug lab scandal claims a police detective lied to a grand jury “to explain the results that came out of the lab” handled by accused state drug chemist Annie Dookhan, a shocking allegation that brought a sharp response from prosecutors, police and even the judge. Judge Carol S. Ball accepted prosecutors’ request to drop cocaine distribution charges against Jeffrey Solomon, also known as Jeffrey Banks, yesterday. But Solomon’s lawyer, Victoria Kelleher, also claimed that Sgt. Detective Donald Keehan “perjured himself” in testimony to a grand jury. According to the grand jury minutes, Keenan said the initial field test of the substance he seized did not turn up a positive “blue” indicator. The evidence he believed to be crack cocaine, he said, “might not have been consistent and I may have grabbed a part where it wasn’t cocaine.” Under questioning, he testified he later saw the same evidence again and that there was “a small piece in there that’s blue ... the color (that) would come up for a positive result of cocaine.” But Kelleher said state police retested the sample and it was negative. “It’s simply impossible that it would’ve ever turned blue,” she said. “We reject the assertion the officer perjured himself,” a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. “The issue at hand was the officer’s field test, and he states unequivocally that the substance field tested negative for cocaine.”"
The entire story can be found at: GIST: "A lawyer for an accused drug dealer whose Suffolk Superior Court charges were the first to be tossed out yesterday in the wake of a state drug lab scandal claims a police detective lied to a grand jury “to explain the results that came out of the lab” handled by accused state drug chemist Annie Dookhan, a shocking allegation that brought a sharp response from prosecutors, police and even the judge. Judge Carol S. Ball accepted prosecutors’ request to drop cocaine distribution charges against Jeffrey Solomon, also known as Jeffrey Banks, yesterday. But Solomon’s lawyer, Victoria Kelleher, also claimed that Sgt. Detective Donald Keehan “perjured himself” in testimony to a grand jury. According to the grand jury minutes, Keenan said the initial field test of the substance he seized did not turn up a positive “blue” indicator. The evidence he believed to be crack cocaine, he said, “might not have been consistent and I may have grabbed a part where it wasn’t cocaine.” Under questioning, he testified he later saw the same evidence again and that there was “a small piece in there that’s blue ... the color (that) would come up for a positive result of cocaine.” But Kelleher said state police retested the sample and it was negative. “It’s simply impossible that it would’ve ever turned blue,” she said. “We reject the assertion the officer perjured himself,” a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. “The issue at hand was the officer’s field test, and he states unequivocally that the substance field tested negative for cocaine.”"
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061165621&srvc=rss
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring these cases. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site. One word of caution: It may take several weeks for content from current posts to respond to the search. Search away!
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
