The chemist at the center of the Massachusetts drug lab scandal was arrested Friday. WAMC”s Paul Tuthill reports.
34 year old Annie Dookhan is facing two counts of obstruction of justice, felonies, which if found guilty could result in a 20 year prison term. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said Dookhan’s alleged actions corrupted the criminal justice system and restoring public trust will take time.
Coakley said no motive has been discovered for the evidence tampering that went on in the lab for years apparently. Dookhan is alleged to have faked positive test results , and mixed drug evidence together from different cases. Thousands of criminal cases in the greater Boston area are believed to be tainted with the liklihood people were wrongly imprisoned ,.as a result. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are trying to figure out how to deal with the fallout.
