STORY: "Superior Court judge wants to know why state didn't turn over paperwork showing Sonja Farak's addiction history," by reporter Buffy Spencer, published by 'Mass Live' on June 7, 2016.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Sonja Farak, left, stands during her arraignment at Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown, Mass., Tuesday Jan. 22, 2013. Farak is charged with stealing drugs and tampering with evidence while working as a chemist in the State Crime Lab in Amherst. Farak pleaded not guilty."
GIST: Hampden Superior Court
Judge Richard J. Carey on Monday summed up a main goal in figuring out
what he should do with cases affected by former state chemist Sonja Farak's misconduct. He wants to know why Farak's mental health care records — found in
Farak's car when she was arrested for drug thefts from the now-closed
state police crime laboratory in Amherst in January 2013 — didn't come
to light until the fall of 2014. They only came to light after lawyer Luke Ryan, representing
defendants who were contesting the outcome of their drug cases because
Farak was involved, was finally allowed to inspect evidence. Defense lawyers have said the state's withholding of the records is prosecutorial misconduct. A report released in May
concluded there was no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct or
obstruction of justice by the assistant attorney general or state police
officers in matters related to the Farak investigation. The report was
prepared by Special Assistant Attorney General Peter J. Velis and
special Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Thomas Merrigan. But Carey, in considering defendants' motions to withdraw guilty pleas or have a new trial, said he wants to know what happened. "It also seems to me that the critical issue here is that
documentation that was in that car, in that manila envelope, that
reflected arguably a prior history for Ms. Farak. Who saw it, what they
did with it, who disclosed it who didn't disclose it, why they disclosed
it or didn't disclose it, when they disclosed it and when they didn't
disclose it, is what this is all about," Carey said in a court session
Monday on 10 cases in which Farak was involved. Carey noted in a past ruling on the cases that police listed Farak's
mental health treatment records as "assorted lab paperwork." The records
"shed light on Farak's long struggle with addiction and her drug
tampering at the Amherst drug lab," he wrote. Ryan on Monday continued to argue for what he calls "the missing
emails" from the state attorney general's office and state police. Even
though 810 emails among those parties were given to defense lawyers,
Ryan said some were clearly missing. For instance, he told Carey on Monday, although some of the emails
showed that someone from the attorney general's office or state police
replied to an email, the actual reply is not there. Carey asked the defense lawyers and attorney general's office
representatives to try to work out among themselves a means for getting
all the emails, and report to him if it can't be accomplished without a
court order. He said he is particularly interested in seeing all the emails from
January 2013 to the fall of 2014, since that is the time period between
when Farak's mental health records were seized in the car to when Ryan
found them after being allowed access to evidence. Carey said he would set aside a week or two weeks, perhaps in
September, to conduct hearings on the current cases. He said he planned
to have them resolved one way or another, be it by dismissal, a new
trial or other means. After those cases are resolved, he said, he will address other cases filed with him relating to Farak."...An interim report by state Assistant Attorney General Thomas Caldwell
said, "Ms. Farak began using controlled substances regularly in the
last quarter of 2004; Ms. Farak was under the influence of controlled
substances during a vast majority of her working hours from the last
quarter of 2004 to her removal from the lab on Jan. 18, 2013." Earlier this year Farak testified under an immunity agreement before a
grand jury investigating failures in the state crime lab. Caldwell
wrote that she testified "about her extensive drug use; her siphoning of
drugs from the lab's standards, which were used to test drug samples,
from police-submitted samples of drugs, which were intended to be tested
for evidentiary purposes in pending criminal cases, and from other
chemists' samples; and her manufacturing in the lab of crack cocaine for
her own personal use." Farak testified at that grand jury she first started using
methamphetamine from the lab in late 2004 or early 2005, she said he
enjoyed the "positive side effects" of the drug. She began to use it
multiple times a day. Not taking the drug resulted in severe lethargy,
irritability and lack of productivity and focus, to the point where she
would have to call out sick.
The entire story can be found at:
The entire story can be found at:
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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;
