Annie Dookhan: "Chemist in Mass. scandal refuses to testify." Closed lab is now a crime scene. Associated Press. (Really fascinating story! HL);

STORY:  "Chemist in Mass. scandal refuses to testify," by Denise Lavoie, AP Legal Affairs Writer, published on October 10, 2102.

GIST: "The chemist at the center of a Massachusetts drug-testing lab  scandal refused to testify Wednesday in a drug case against a Boston man who once spent 15 years in prison for the slaying of a 12-year-old girl he says he did not commit.
A lawyer for Shawn Drumgold asked a judge to dismiss two drug charges against her client because chemist Annie Dookhan's initials appear on a drug analysis form in the case. The judge refused, and Drumgold's drug trial began Wednesday afternoon. Dookhan is charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly skirting protocols and faking test results at the now-closed lab. Dookhan appeared in court but did not take the stand and exercised her Fifth Amendment right not to testify.........When Drumgold was arrested on drug possession charges in 2011, he was the only person out of 14 people in a Boston apartment charged, his lawyer, Rosemary Scapicchio, said Wednesday. He denied the drugs were his and she thinks Boston police only arrested him because of his legal victory against the department. Scapicchio said Wednesday prosecutors hadn't provided her with sufficient drug testing evidence in the case. Costello said they have been unable to fulfill her request for some documents because the closed lab is a "crime scene" in the custody of the state attorney general's office as it investigates the testing scandal. State police, who took over operation of the lab from the Department of Public Health, have said Dookhan tested more than 60,000 samples covering 34,000 defendants during her nine years at the lab. State officials said last week that they have identified more than 1,100 defendants who are serving time in county jails or state prisons based on samples tested by Dookhan."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gEy-_5eoAIdZ3KQA4MfxvF-Bh0Bw?docId=0e732446a8a3474ea9bf7e14bd019e9d

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I am monitoring this issue. 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.