Court asked to dismiss cases tied to ex-drug lab chemist
Criminal Law
A petition is asking the highest court in Massachusetts to dismiss every case connected to a former state chemist who authorities say was high almost every day she went to work at a state drug lab for eight years.
The state's public defender agency is a party to the petition filed Wednesday before the Supreme Judicial Court by two women whose drug possession convictions are tied to evidence handled by chemist Sonja Farak.
Farak pleaded guilty in 2014 to stealing cocaine from the state crime lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She worked at the lab between 2005 and 2013.
The women say the state failed to notify them of Farak's misconduct even after her conviction, depriving them of the opportunity to challenge their convictions.
Related listings
-
Academic accused in Chicago killing due in California court
Criminal Law 08/23/2017A Northwestern University microbiologist suspected in the stabbing death of a 26-year-old Chicago man is due in a California courtroom.Wyndham Lathem and Oxford University financial officer, Andrew Warren, were sought in a cross-country chase on firs...
-
Court file: Michigan girl who killed toddler heard voices
Criminal Law 08/23/2017Court documents say an 8-year-old girl accused of killing a toddler at a home daycare in western Michigan earlier this year suffers from "serious mental health" issues, including hearing a demon's voice.The Department of Health and Human Services fil...
-
Driver due in court after deaths of migrants in tractor-trailer
Criminal Law 08/09/2017The driver of a tractor-trailer turned deadly transporter for undocumented migrants is due to face criminal charges in a Texas court Monday in what police are calling a human trafficking crime.Authorities called to the San Antonio Walmart lot Sunday ...