Framington: Massachusetts: White Elephant Case; The Boston Globe reports that the Force has discovered a 'hide-a-key' that permitted unrecorded access to the evidence ro0m: "Handling of evidence has come under scrutiny in the state in recent years. An audit conducted this summer showed that hundreds of thousands of dollars, thousands of drug samples, and dozens of guns had disappeared from the evidence room in Braintree. The evidence officer killed herself in May, and the chief of police retired in October under what he called pressure from the mayor. The state is still trying to work out what will happen to defendants convicted with evidence tested by disgraced state chemist Annie Dookhan, who between 2003 and 2012 tampered with drug samples and forged results in favor of law enforcement, compromising tens of thousands of cases. Another state chemist, Sonja Farak, admitted to ingesting drugs she was supposed to be testing from 2004 to 2013, affecting thousands more cases. “It just seems like this is going to keep happening in Massachusetts until we have better systems in place,” said Matthew Segal, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, in a phone interview. “Obviously it isn’t about one person and it isn’t about one town. Its impossible to say that anymore. Its an epidemic.”

In the years since I started publishing this Blog I have become increasingly disturbed by the 'white elephant' in the room: Sheer, unadulterated, willful   misconduct in the criminal justice system - much  of it involving forensic evidence - committed by lab technicians,  pathologists, police officers, prosecutors and others.  Think Annie Dookhan; Think Sonia Farak; Think David Kofoed; Think Charles Smith; Think Ken Anderson; Think Gene Morrison.  Think Louis Scarcella;  I have therefore decided to run this image of a white elephant at the top of every applicable post henceforth, to draw our reader's attention to   what I see as a major problem in all too many criminal justice system's - my own included.  Harold Levy; Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
"Reformers have for years recommended that all forensic labs be independent from law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies' and this is a key reform promoted by The Justice Project (2008). But fixing these problems is only half the answer' because half of the wrongful convictions attributed to misleading forensic evidence involved deliberate forensic fraud' evidence tampering' and/or perjury.
From "The Elephant in the Crime Lab," by co-authored by Sheila Berry and Larry Ytuarte; Forensic Examiner; Spring, 2009;

STORY: "Framington Police discover 'hide-a-key' that permitted unrestricted access to evdence room, by reporter Evan Allen, published by the Boston Globe on November 5, 2016. (Wikipedia informs us  that "Framington  is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census,^[1] making it the 14th most populous municipality in Massachusetts.^[2] Founded in 1700, Framingham was placed at # 36 on 'Best Places to Live in US' by CNN Money magazine in 2012.⁾
GIST: "The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office is notifying defendants that the Framingham police discovered a “hide-a-key” that permitted unrecorded access to their evidence room, according to statements from prosecutors and police. The key was discovered last month, according to the statements. Anyone who knew where it was could get into the evidence room and then into the “cage” where evidence is kept, according to a notice sent out to defendants. The discovery comes amid turmoil for the department. Officer Alan Dubeshter, who worked in the evidence room, resigned from the force in April of this year, and the Attorney General’s Office is investigating whether he took money from the evidence room. The key issue is also under investigation, Police Chief Kenneth Ferguson said in a statement Saturday  “It appears that only the two evidence officers, who were authorized to access the evidence room, knew of the key,” Ferguson said. “All information suggests that this key was hidden as a back-up means, and convenience measure, for these two authorized evidence officers to access the outer door, if they had locked themselves out of their office.”.........Handling of evidence has come under scrutiny in the state in recent years. An audit conducted this summer showed that hundreds of thousands of dollars, thousands of drug samples, and dozens of guns had disappeared from the evidence room in Braintree. The evidence officer killed herself in May, and the chief of police retired in October under what he called pressure from the mayor. The state is still trying to work out what will happen to defendants convicted with evidence tested by disgraced state chemist Annie Dookhan, who between 2003 and 2012 tampered with drug samples and forged results in favor of law enforcement, compromising tens of thousands of cases. Another state chemist, Sonja Farak, admitted to ingesting drugs she was supposed to be testing from 2004 to 2013, affecting thousands more cases. “It just seems like this is going to keep happening in Massachusetts until we have better systems in place,” said Matthew Segal, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, in a phone interview. “Obviously it isn’t about one person and it isn’t about one town. Its impossible to say that anymore. Its an epidemic.”

The entire story can be found at:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/11/05/framingham-police-discover-hide-key-that-permitted-unrecorded-access-evidence-room/jRBjx4lwkcmPoOIGAV9QDN/story.html 

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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.