Dismissal sought for 11K cases tied to drug lab scandal
Mar 20, 2018
Defense attorneys and civil libertarians have asked the highest court in Massachusetts to throw out another 11,000 drug cases potentially tainted by a rogue chemist at a state drug lab
BOSTON — Defense attorneys and civil libertarians have asked the highest court in Massachusetts to throw out another 11,000 drug cases potentially tainted by a rogue chemist at a state drug lab.
The motion filed last week by the Committee for Public Counsel Services and the American Civil Liberties Union argues the court should vacate all cases involving drug samples tested at the Amherst lab during Sonja Farak's eight-year tenure.
The Boston Globe reports the motion says there is a "cloud" not only over the cases Farak was involved in, but "over the integrity of all testing" at the lab.
Prosecutors already have agreed to dismiss about 8,000 convictions tainted by Farak, who pleaded guilty to stealing drugs from the lab for personal use.
The Supreme Judicial Court will hear the motion in May.
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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com
