STORY: "Actions of indicted state chemist Sonja Farak cause 2 more Springfield cases to be dropped," by reporter Buffy Spencer, published by The Republican on December 17, 2013.
GIST: "Two more narcotics cases involving defendants in Hampden Superior Court have fallen victim to the actions of indicted state chemist Sonja Farak who is accused of evidence tampering and theft.........As of November, 208 pending Hampden Superior Court drug cases had been dismissed because Farak is not available to testify about her testing of the drugs, according to the district attorney's office. New trials are being sought in dozens cases involving convictions based on drug testing by the indicted chemist. A judge in the superior court has already heard motions to grant new trials to 15 defendants who were convicted or entered guilty pleas in cases involving drug testing by Farak; thus far, two of those defendants were granted new trials. In granting the new trials, Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder concluded in November, “There is powerful evidence that this was not the first time (Jan. 18) that Farak tampered with drug samples at the Amherst Lab.” Kinder wrote in his opinion that he believed Farak had been tampering with drugs as far back as the summer of 2012.........In the Hampshire Superior Court case against Farak, 35, of Northampton, she has denied all charges against her. Those include four counts each of evidence tampering and larceny of drugs and two counts of possession of cocaine. She was one of two chemists at the drug testing laboratory run by the state police and located on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. She is only charged with the crimes for Jan. 18, the day before she was arrested. The prosecution is ordering retesting of drug samples in some cases, but there are not enough resources to retest all cases she handled, Flannery said. There are the pending cases, which have not got to a trial date, in which Farak was involved, according to Flannery. Defense lawyers during the hearings before Kinder questioned repeatedly why it appears no entity is investigating the scope of Farak’s criminal activity to see if she should face more charges of drug theft of tampering on other dates.........Farak is scheduled for trial on Feb. 5 in Hampshire Superior Court in Northampton. She has denied the charges against her."
The entire story can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
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.
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com;
STORY: "Actions of indicted state chemist Sonja Farak cause 2 more Springfield cases to be dropped," by reporter Buffy Spencer, published by The Republican on December 17, 2013.
GIST: "Two more narcotics cases involving defendants in Hampden Superior Court have fallen victim to the actions of indicted state chemist Sonja Farak who is accused of evidence tampering and theft.........As of November, 208 pending Hampden Superior Court drug cases had been dismissed because Farak is not available to testify about her testing of the drugs, according to the district attorney's office. New trials are being sought in dozens cases involving convictions based on drug testing by the indicted chemist. A judge in the superior court has already heard motions to grant new trials to 15 defendants who were convicted or entered guilty pleas in cases involving drug testing by Farak; thus far, two of those defendants were granted new trials. In granting the new trials, Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder concluded in November, “There is powerful evidence that this was not the first time (Jan. 18) that Farak tampered with drug samples at the Amherst Lab.” Kinder wrote in his opinion that he believed Farak had been tampering with drugs as far back as the summer of 2012.........In the Hampshire Superior Court case against Farak, 35, of Northampton, she has denied all charges against her. Those include four counts each of evidence tampering and larceny of drugs and two counts of possession of cocaine. She was one of two chemists at the drug testing laboratory run by the state police and located on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. She is only charged with the crimes for Jan. 18, the day before she was arrested. The prosecution is ordering retesting of drug samples in some cases, but there are not enough resources to retest all cases she handled, Flannery said. There are the pending cases, which have not got to a trial date, in which Farak was involved, according to Flannery. Defense lawyers during the hearings before Kinder questioned repeatedly why it appears no entity is investigating the scope of Farak’s criminal activity to see if she should face more charges of drug theft of tampering on other dates.........Farak is scheduled for trial on Feb. 5 in Hampshire Superior Court in Northampton. She has denied the charges against her."
The entire story can be found at:
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.
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
