New following seasonal break: Annie Dookhan: One year later: Associated Press story says Massachusetts is still reeling a year after the "drug lab scandal" threw the state's legal system into turmoil. Reporter Denise Lavoie. (Publisher's note: Trial set for January 6, 2014);

STORY: "Mass. reeling from drug lab scandal a year later," by Denise Lavoie, Associated Press Legal Affairs Writer, published on September 1, 2013.

GIST: "The state is still reeling a year after a scandal at a drug lab threw the legal system into turmoil: More than 330 prison inmates have been released from custody and at least 1,100 cases have been dismissed or not prosecuted because of tainted evidence and other fallout from the facility's closure.
Annie Dookhan stands accused of faking test results, tampering with evidence and routinely ignoring testing protocols. With thousands of challenges still making their way through the court system, many in the legal community believe it will be years before the cases handled by Dookhan are cleared.
Just two weeks ago, a lawyer appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick to help create a database of Dookhan's cases said more than 40,000 defendants may have been affected, about 6,000 more than officials first estimated. "Forget having your day in court, forget having a lawyer — it's taken us this long just to get a number on the number of cases that she tested," said Matthew Segal, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. "It's been very damaging to the integrity of the justice system," he said. Dookhan, 35, treasured her reputation as the most productive chemist in the lab and became the go-to person for prosecutors in drug cases. But now prosecutors believe Dookhan's reputation was based on fraud. She told state police that instead of testing all the substances turned over to the Department of Public Health lab, she sometimes would test only a fraction of them but certify them all as drugs, authorities said. She has pleaded not guilty and her lawyer hasn't responded to repeated requests for comment. The scandal led to the resignation of the state's public health commissioner, the resignation of a manager at the lab and the firing of another manager.The effects have reverberated throughout the state."

The entire story can be found at:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mass-reeling-lab-scandal-year-20130594

Catch-up following seasonal break:

STORY: "Former Massachusetts chemist wants statements to police tossed: Lawyer claims Annie Dookhan never got a Miranda warning," published by WCVB on August 19, 2013:

GIST: "The former Massachusetts state chemist accused of faking drug test results and tampering with evidence wants statements to police in which she allegedly admitted wrongdoing tossed out.
Annie Dookhan's attorney filed a motion Friday claiming she never got a Miranda warning and her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination was violated.The police statement she signed and a follow-up call happened under circumstances where a reasonable person "would not have felt free to end the interrogation," according to the motion. The attorney general's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. In the statement she signed, Dookhan allegedly admitted making negative samples positive for narcotics, and "dry labbing," or testing some samples for drugs and assuming others were positive. Authorities said Dookhan tested more than 60,000 drug samples involving 34,000 defendants at Hinton state lab, which they shut down last summer. She resigned months earlier during an internal probe. Hundreds of inmates have been released in the fallout from the scandal. Authorities have previously said the only motive they can offer in the case is Dookhan's desire to be seen as a good worker. She has pleaded not guilty to charges including obstruction of justice and perjury after a 27-count indictment last year stemming from cases in six counties."

The entire story can be found at:

http://m.wcvb.com/news/former-massachusetts-chemist-wants-statements-to-police-tossed/-/17428308/21526912/-/wqma50z/-/index.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following the 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/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.