PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Yet another reminder of the disastrous consequences
which are inevitable when crime labs are poorly supervised - and
prosecutors cut corners to protect their own reputations and undeserved
public confidence in their respective criminal justice jurisdictions.
Bravo to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the various
organizations and pro bono law firms who who fought so hard to expose
the corruption, bungling and coverups and overturn the convictions - in
spite of intense resistance by the state.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
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STORY:
"More Than 7,500 Cases Ordered For Dismissal Due To Ex-State Chemist's
Misconduct," reported by by WBUR newsroom on April 5, 2018.GIST: "A Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justice on Thursday ordered
for dismissal more than 11,000 convictions in more than 7,500 cases.
The cases are connected with former state drug lab chemist Sonja Farak,
who pleaded guilty in
2014 to charges of stealing and using drugs from the Amherst lab where
she worked for almost a decade. In December, district attorneys across
Massachusetts notified the SJC that an estimated 6,000 cases may be dismissed because of Farak's misconduct. That was after a judge in June 2017 ruled that two
former assistant attorneys general committed fraud by not disclosing
the extent of Farak's misconduct. According to the American Civil
Liberties Union, most of the convictions ordered dismissed are in
Hampden County. "Today,
the burden of an unjust criminal conviction has been lifted off the
shoulders of thousands of people, people who can now apply for jobs and
housing and move forward with their lives," said staff attorney Rebecca
Jacobstein, with the Committee for Public Counsel Services, which, along
with the ACLU and the law firm Fick & Marx, filed a petition
with
the SJC. Farak's misconduct follows the guilty plea of another chemist,
Annie Dookhan. In 2017, prosecutors agreed to dismiss more than 20,000 cases that were based on evidence tested by Dookhan.The entire story can be found at:
http://www.wbur.org/news/2018/04/05/farak-drug-cases-sjc-dismissed
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.
