Annie Dookhan: Massachusetts; Woman released half way through sentence; Lawyer says very "productive" lab people set her back. Boston Globe.

STORY: "Roxbury mother freed amid state drug lab scandal." by reporter Brian Ballou, published in the Boston Globe on October 4, 2012.

GIST: "Standing in the administrative offices of the South Middlesex Correctional Center in Framingham, Mylazia Johnson was handed a letter from her attorney. At first, she didn’t quite understand the import of the news it contained: She had a court date Sept. 28. And she could be released. “I read it again, and I was thinking it can’t be true,” said Johnson, of Roxbury, who was halfway through her 3½-year drug sentence. The attorney explained during a telephone call: Annie Dookhan, the former state chemist at the epicenter of a spiraling drug lab scandal, had been involved in testing the drugs in Johnson’s case...........Attorney Kathleen S. Lucey has represented two of those people, Johnson and Joshua P. Fernandes, who was freed last week in Plymouth Superior Court after serving about half of his sentence for cocaine trafficking and drug possession. Fernandes was convicted in March 2011. “Ms. Johnson was dealt a much tougher hand than most of us, but she never, ever gave up on herself, and she’s already doing good things and moving forward despite what very ‘productive’ lab people have done to set her back,” Lucey said."

The entire story can be found at:

http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/10/03/mother-released-from-prison-after-revelation-that-state-chemist-annie-dookhan-was-involved-testing-drugs-her-case/2dRxL1tevTkidqslmvviiO/story.html

 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.