"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.”