PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "At issue in Penate's lawsuit is when Farak's drug abuse and plundering of the evidence began. Two former attorney's general originally insisted it began just months before her arrest. But in reality, they possessed clinical notes by Farak's own hand seized by state police upon her arrest that showed she had been stealing meth, cocaine, LSD and other drugs for nearly a decade."
STORY: "Disgraced drug lab chemist Sonja Farak emerges as her own attorney as defendant in $5.7 million federal lawsuit," by Stephanie Barry, published by Mass Live on January 5, 2017.
GIST: "Disgraced former state drug lab chemist Sonja Farak -- who indulged a voracious drug habit for years, siphoning police evidence she was tasked with preserving and testing -- is representing herself in a $5.7 million federal lawsuit filed against her and a slew of city and state officials. Rolando Penate -- who spent more than five years in prison for drug crimes despite rampant misconduct by Farak and state attorneys general, as well as alleged indifference by state officials responsible for overseeing the state's drug labs -- filed a lawsuit in September. The 57-page complaint argues the justice system was corrupted on multiple levels and resulted in Penate's wrongful incarceration. His conviction was dismissed in June by Hampden Superior Court Judge Richard Carey. The judge also issued a withering decision on the state attorney general's office mishandling and concealing evidence in the Farak case. Farak is among 18 defendants in the Penate lawsuit. In December she filed a neatly typed answer to the complaint, listing her only contact information as a post office box in Hatfield, and responding to nearly 400 separate allegations. Because of the impersonal nature of answers to legal complaints, the response sheds little light on her life in the wake of the scandal. But, it is the only significant public exposure Farak has risked since being released after serving an 18-month jail sentence for theft of drugs from the lab, cocaine possession and evidence tampering. She was arrested in 2013 and pleaded guilty in 2014. At issue in Penate's lawsuit is when Farak's drug abuse and plundering of the evidence began. Two former attorney's general originally insisted it began just months before her arrest. But in reality, they possessed clinical notes by Farak's own hand seized by state police upon her arrest that showed she had been stealing meth, cocaine, LSD and other drugs for nearly a decade. Answers from other defendants including city detectives who investigated and arrested Penate plus motions to dismiss the case by certain defendants have begun trickling in. A motion hearing has not yet been set in the case. On Nov. 30, district attorneys from across the state announced they were collectively forced to dismiss more than 6,000 drug cases due to Farak's crimes and subsequent mishandling of evidence in her case by two former state prosecutors. That number later increased to 8,000. Of those, 4,000 came from Hampden County alone."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/01/disgraced_drug_lan_chemist_son.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/c
