Thursday, September 15, 2016
Pillaged Braintree police evidence room: Massachusetts; Major Development: The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office is now investigating Braintree police evidence room after county prosecutors dismissed six cases this week and said hundreds more are under review, reports O'Ryan Johnson. (Boston Herald)..."The state attorney general is now investigating the Braintree police evidence room after county prosecutors dismissed six cases this week and said hundreds more are under review. “We’ve been contacting defense attorneys with what we learned, as we learned it,” said David Traub, spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey. “Obviously, when you have problems with the chain of custody and evidence that can’t be accounted for, it creates fair trial issues.” ..." Due to potential conflicts of interest, Morrissey’s office asked Attorney General Maura Healey’s office to look at the evidence room as well. Her office confirmed last night the case had been referred there, but had no further comment.......“Basically, we learned that there is an issue of locating drugs — there are drug cases where evidence was tampered with or missing — and there is money that is either unaccounted for or missing,” Morrissey said. He said the audit also determined “a number of guns were unaccounted for.”
"The state attorney general is now investigating the Braintree police evidence room after county prosecutors dismissed six cases this week and said hundreds more are under review. “We’ve been contacting defense attorneys with what we learned, as we learned it,” said David Traub, spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey. “Obviously, when you have problems with the chain of custody and evidence that can’t be accounted for, it creates fair trial issues.” An audit of the police department’s evidence room carried out by the city found missing drugs, guns and cash, Morrissey’s office said. Prosecutors in his office are reviewing between 200 and 400 criminal drug cases as a result of the audit to determine the scope of the problem. Due to potential conflicts of interest, Morrissey’s office asked Attorney General Maura Healey’s office to look at the evidence room as well. Her office confirmed last night the case had been referred there, but had no further comment.......“Basically, we learned that there is an issue of locating drugs — there are drug cases where evidence was tampered with or missing — and there is money that is either unaccounted for or missing,” Morrissey said. He said the audit also determined “a number of guns were unaccounted for.”
