STORY: "Drug lab evidence causes old evidence to pile up," by reporter Shaun Suttner, published by the Worcester Telegram on June 23, 2013.
GIST: "Disgraced former state chemist Annie Dookhan almost single-handedly brought the state’s drug testing system to a standstill and cast doubt on tens of thousands of drug convictions. Now it turns out the indicted chemist has also triggered the shutdown of the wide-ranging system of destroying drug evidence that is no longer needed for criminal prosecution, causing a massive backlog of old drug evidence in barracks and police stations statewide. State public safety authorities last July ordered an indefinite moratorium on the destruction of drug evidence. That stoppage is still in effect and is likely to remain so at least until the state Inspector General completes a report on the state Department of Public Health’s two former drug testing labs, which have since been taken over by the state police. Meanwhile, state police evidence experts are developing guidelines for use by all law enforcement agencies — including the state police and local police departments across the state — on best practices for getting rid of old drug evidence."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130623/NEWS/106239836/1116
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to the Annie Dookhan debacle;
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.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
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.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130623/NEWS/106239836/1116
