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The state drug lab scandal: how it unfolded
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THE DRUG LAB SCANDAL: How it unfolded
August 30
State Police shut down the Hinton State Laboratory Institute in Jamaica Plain after an investigation uncovers alleged widespread malfeasance by a former chemist, Annie Dookhan, who had tested thousands of drug samples in criminal cases since 2003.
September 17
John Auerbach, the commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, which had run the lab until shortly before its closure, resigns, saying, “It is clear that there was insufficient quality monitoring, reporting, and investigating.”
September 20
Governor Deval Patrick appoints veteran prosecutor David Meier to lead an investigation into tens of thousands of potentially tainted criminal cases.
September 27
Robert Mulligan, chief justice of the state Trial Court, announces that special courts will be established around Massachusetts to handle affected criminal cases.
September 28
Annie Dookhan is arrested by State Police at her Franklin home and charged with 2 counts of obstructing justice and one count of falsifying her academic record.
November 5
Patrick asks state Inspector General Glenn Cunha to lead the probe into what went wrong at the Jamaica Plain lab; Cunha takes over the inquiry from Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose office continues to pursue the criminal investigation into Dookhan.
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