Gov. Patrick says he expects charges to be brought in state drug lab scandal

By Hiawatha Bray and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick said today he expected charges to be brought in the scandal over the mishandling of drugs at a state lab.

Asked if he thought former state chemist Annie Dookhan, the figure at the center of the scandal, should be behind bars, Patrick said, “First of all, I’m not a prosecutor. The attorney general is investigating. The State Police is doing exactly what they should be ... doing. The attorney general has to make a decision about charges. I fully expect and indeed I hope, that there are charges.”

“I am very encouraged about the thoroughness of this investigation,” said Patrick, speaking at an event this morning.

Dookhan admitted that she altered test results, forged colleagues’ initials, and did not perform proper tests on drugs for “about two to three years,” according to a State Police report, the Globe reported this morning.

Dookhan’s actions jeopardized the reliability of drug evidence used in 34,000 cases during her nine-year career at the lab, officials said.