Lawyers expect appeals in Mass. crime lab case
By
Denise Lavoie
AP Legal Affairs Writer
/
September 13, 2012
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BOSTON—Some defense attorneys are saying large numbers of drug convictions could be challenged after revelations by a chemist that she was in charge of quality control at a crime lab which was shut down by state police last month.
State police closed the lab on Aug. 30 after their investigation showed that the chemist, Annie Dookhan, failed to follow testing protocols and may have deliberately mishandled drug samples.
A tally of Dookhan's cases turned over by state police to defense attorneys and prosecutors shows she was involved in testing more than 50,000 drug samples covering approximately 34,000 defendants during her tenure at the lab, from 2003 to 2012. State police say they don't know how many samples may have been tainted.
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