MA - Chemist in drug test flap is arrested

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http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...ass&action=2&lang=en&_LT=UNLC_USNWU00L2_UNEWS

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts chemist accused of faking drug results, forging paperwork and mixing samples at a state police lab in a case that has thrown thousands of criminal cases into doubt was arrested Friday.

Annie Dookhan, 34, was led to a police cruiser at her home in Franklin, about 40 miles southwest of Boston. Dookhan's alleged mishandling of drug samples prompted the shutdown of the Boston lab last month and resulted in the resignation of three officials.

State police say Dookhan tested more than 60,000 drug samples involving 34,000 defendants during her nine years at the lab. Defense lawyers and prosecutors are scrambling to figure out how to deal with the fallout................

Dookhan is charged with witness intimidation, a crime punishable by as many as 10 years in prison, and pretending to hold a degree, punishable by as much as a year in jail.............

"I think that all of those who are accountable for the impact on individual cases need to be held accountable," Gov. Deval Patrick said Thursday.

Co-workers began expressing concern about Dookhan's work habits several years ago, but her supervisors allowed her to continue working. Dookhan was the most productive chemist in the lab, routinely testing more than 500 samples a month, while others tested between 50 and 150.


More at link......
 
She was the most productive chemist in her lab? Gee, I wonder why. We are talking about her supposedly testing as much as 10 times more samples than some of her co-workers.
:banghead:
 
Mass. chemist accused of faking police lab drug tests could face more charges *
Annie Dookhan, 34, of Franklin, was arrested Friday in a burgeoning investigation that has already led to the shutdown of the lab, the resignation of the state's public health commissioner and the release of more than a dozen drug defendants.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...-face-charges-article-1.1171044#ixzz27u9QDW55
 
Mass. chemist accused of faking police lab drug tests could face more charges *
Annie Dookhan, 34, of Franklin, was arrested Friday in a burgeoning investigation that has already led to the shutdown of the lab, the resignation of the state's public health commissioner and the release of more than a dozen drug defendants.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...-face-charges-article-1.1171044#ixzz27u9QDW55

There could be many more defendants released because of this.
Considering she tested thousands of samples.
 
I guess we can be thankful she didn't handle DNA test that put murders in jail. Drug criminals will get caught again though. lol
 
Criminal freed over Mass. lab scandal now fugitive

http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...ass&action=5&lang=en&_LT=UNLC_NKNWU00L5_UNEWS

BOSTON (AP) — A career criminal and convicted rapist whose bail was reduced after a chemist was accused of mishandling drug samples at a state lab failed to show up for a court date and is now a fugitive, authorities said Thursday.

Marcus Pixley was awaiting trial in a 2011 arrest on charges of possession and distribution of crack cocaine and resisting arrest. His lawyer successfully argued this month that his bail should be lowered because the drugs in his case were tested by Annie Dookhan, a chemist charged with obstruction of justice and accused of faking test results, skipping protocols and mixing drug samples at a now-closed state lab..............

Pixley was released after posting the lower $1,000 bail, but he failed to show up for a scheduled court hearing Wednesday. A Suffolk Superior Court judge issued a warrant for his arrest Thursday.

Pixley, 52, has a criminal record dating to 1977, including rape, armed robbery, assault and battery and larceny. He also has eight prior drug convictions.

Prosecutors opposed Pixley's bail reduction, arguing that he was being prosecuted as a habitual offender.............

"One thing has become very clear: The defendants who stand to benefit most from the DPH lab disaster aren't low-level, non-violent drug users. They're moving large quantities of drugs, they've got long records or they're violent offenders," Conley said.


More at link......
 
Wow, way to go Annie ! How stupid can you get.
 
Verner said Dookhan later acknowledged to state police that she sometimes would take 15 to 25 samples and instead of testing them all, she would test only five of them, then list them all as positive. She said that sometimes, if a sample tested negative, she would take known cocaine from another sample and add it to the negative sample to make it test positive for cocaine, Verner said. . . .

The only motive authorities have found so far is that Dookhan wanted to be seen as a good worker, Coakley said.


Un #%%& believable!

She wanted to be seen as a good worker? How about. .. hmmm. . ..trying to be accurate!

:banghead:
 
I guess we can be thankful she didn't handle DNA test that put murders in jail. Drug criminals will get caught again though. lol

Some of these defendants are violent criminals put in for a drug arrest, and some are completely innocent. :banghead:

Verner said Dookhan later acknowledged to state police that she sometimes would take 15 to 25 samples and instead of testing them all, she would test only five of them, then list them all as positive. She said that sometimes, if a sample tested negative, she would take known cocaine from another sample and add it to the negative sample to make it test positive for cocaine, Verner said. . . .

The only motive authorities have found so far is that Dookhan wanted to be seen as a good worker, Coakley said.


Un #%%& believable!

She wanted to be seen as a good worker? How about. .. hmmm. . ..trying to be accurate!

:banghead:


Colored by me.

That is something she should be locked up for and have the key thrown away.

I think this probably goes on in DNA labs too. Someone I know, and trust, said they saw an interview with a DNA analyst who said that if a case was good they wouldn't test DNA or they would fudge the results.

Here's a CNN piece on Dookhan; http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#/video/bestoftv/2012/10/06/ac-ma-lab-scandal.cnn
 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...dff136-0903-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_story.html

...Dookhan was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice, a felony count that carries up to 10 years in prison, and pretending to hold a degree, a misdemeanor punishable by as much as a year in jail....

The crime of pretending to have a degree needs to be reassessed. There are major differences in that crime. Pretending to have a medical degree and being a surgeon is far worse than pretending to hold an MBA and going to work for a company. This job was the difference between life and death for a lot of people. Violent criminals are being released and innocent people have lost years of their lives due to her dishonesty.

This is also from the article;

...Co-workers began expressing concern about Dookhan’s work habits several years ago, but her supervisors allowed her to continue working. Dookhan was the most productive chemist in the lab, routinely testing more than 500 samples a month, while others tested between 50 and 150....

Her supervisors are just as culpable as she is, IMO. The very first time she doubled the amount of the average work done of her colleagues she should have been called on the carpet and had her work rechecked. JMO
 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...dff136-0903-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_story.html

...Dookhan was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice, a felony count that carries up to 10 years in prison, and pretending to hold a degree, a misdemeanor punishable by as much as a year in jail....

The crime of pretending to have a degree needs to be reassessed. There are major differences in that crime. Pretending to have a medical degree and being a surgeon is far worse than pretending to hold an MBA and going to work for a company. This job was the difference between life and death for a lot of people. Violent criminals are being released and innocent people have lost years of their lives due to her dishonesty.

This is also from the article;

...Co-workers began expressing concern about Dookhan’s work habits several years ago, but her supervisors allowed her to continue working. Dookhan was the most productive chemist in the lab, routinely testing more than 500 samples a month, while others tested between 50 and 150....

Her supervisors are just as culpable as she is, IMO. The very first time she doubled the amount of the average work done of her colleagues she should have been called on the carpet and had her work rechecked. JMO

What actually got her busted? Who finally took action?
 
Unless all of her co-workers were extremely lazy (which certainly doesn't appear to be the case), her testing so many more samples than her co-workers should have been a red flag. Instead it appears she was considered a great worker.
 
What actually got her busted? Who finally took action?

It's all in the OP. Her co-workers were suspicious for while, but supervisors didn't listen because she was so "productive." Eventually she got caught for forging her co-worker's initials on some paperwork.
 
Chemist in Mass. lab scandal refuses to testify

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49359756

BOSTON (AP) - The chemist at the center of a Massachusetts drug-testing lab scandal refused to testify Wednesday in a drug case against a Boston man who once spent 15 years in prison for the slaying of a 12-year-old girl he says he did not commit..............

Thomas Costello, the prosecutor in Drumgold's case, said although Dookhan's initials appear on the analysis forms and on a drug certificate, she was simply the notary. The drug testing of the suspected cocaine and heroin was done by two other chemists, Costello said.................

"They can't prove the drugs were actually drugs, and that they weren't tainted by the drug lab scandal," Scapicchio said outside court.

Scapicchio said prosecutors hadn't provided her with sufficient drug testing evidence in the case. Costello said they have been unable to fulfill her request for some documents because the closed lab is a "crime scene" and the paperwork is in the custody of the state attorney general's office as it investigates the testing scandal...........


She didn't even do the testing in this case and it's still causing a problem in court.....
 
For Mass. lab chemist, an unlikely road to scandal

http://centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=19107935&ps=1011&cat=&cps=0&lang=en

BOSTON (AP) — As a girl and young woman, Annie Dookhan was quiet, unassuming, not one to wear makeup. She was charming but stood out more for her dedication to her studies, and by all accounts seemed headed for success.

The only child of hard-working immigrant parents, she enjoyed their pride as she glided through a prestigious Boston prep school, graduated from college with a degree in biochemistry and appeared to be on a track to medical school.


More at link.....
 
Boston Mayor Seeks $15M for Lab Scandal Fallout

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/boston-mayor-seeks-15m-lab-scandal-fallout-17487981

Boston's mayor is seeking $15 million from the state of Massachusetts to deal with the release of potentially hundreds of prisoners due to the state lab scandal................

Menino plans to increase police overtime to prevent crime. He wants to give newly released inmates information on jobs, health care and education. He's also planning to beef up emergency housing assistance and mental health and drug abuse services............
 
What an unbelievable story! I feel sorry for the poor co-workers, they probably lost their jobs when the lab was shut down.

Let the tens of thousands of prisoner lawsuits begin!
 

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