Pubdate: Sat, 06 Oct 2012
Source: Wareham Courier (MA)
Copyright: 2012 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wickedlocal.com/wareham/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4900
Author: Andy Metzger

DA: BAD EVIDENCE COULD ENABLE 300 TO 500 INMATES TO LEAVE JAIL

WAREHAM - As the fallout from botched state drug lab work continues, 
Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley said Friday there could be as 
many as "three, four, five hundred people" released from jail over 
potentially faulty evidence.

"You may have got the biggest break in your life but we're not going 
to let this city turn into a drug haven now that you're back," Conley 
told reporters, describing how law enforcement would keep a watch on 
those released. "That's not going to happen. And we're very concerned 
that there will be violence, but that's a bridge that we'll have to cross."

Asked on Friday afternoon whether the state would do anything to 
bolster public safety because of the number of people released, Gov. 
Deval Patrick pointed out that "we're talking about people who 
shouldn't have been convicted," and said the state would provide 
resources as needed.

"In terms of people who have other charges or other records, there's 
process for that, and there's a system for that, and there's public 
safety officials who have responsibility for that," Patrick said. "To 
the extent they need additional resources, I assume we'll be 
gathering that as we're developing the proposal for a supplemental budget."

Conley told reporters Friday, "We undoubtedly will be in the position 
to assent to the release of some pretty dangerous people into Boston."

On Friday, the Boston Municipal Court set up that state's first 
special court to handle potentially tainted drug evidence, and Conley 
said it was a frustrating exercise as no action was taken on most of 
the cases because the evidence was not apparently handled by "rogue 
chemist" Annie Dookhan.

"This list here, no one can really make any sense over how it was 
produced in this court," Conley said, during a break in court 
proceedings. "The leadership in this court should be embarrassed by 
what's going on today. These cases aren't even related to Annie 
Dookhan in most instances."

First Justice in the Edward Brooke Courthouse, Judge Raymond Dougan, 
has been the target of Conley's criticism before, when the district 
attorney accused him of being biased in favor of defendants.

The court's clerk magistrate, Daniel Hogan, disputed some of Conley's 
contentions. He said the list was "a list that I believe came from 
the boiler room" and said "we didn't create our list." About Conley's 
perception that it was rushed, Hogan said the court's objective was 
to "ensure that not one person is held one day extra based upon a 
tainted process."

Conley said defense attorneys and prosecutors were told on Tuesday 
that the special court would open Friday and only learned of the 
specific cases on Thursday.

Marcy Levington, one of the defense attorneys, also expressed 
frustration. She told the News Service, "It really is a mess."

"I think that everyone is trying to work as effectively as possible 
to get people incarcerated out," Levington said. "Bureaucracies 
unfortunately just aren't that efficient."

Declaring the Trial Court system "ready and available to handle cases 
immediately," court officials on Tuesday named 28 judges across the 
state to begin processing cases with ties to the breach in drug lab 
testing procedures by Dookhan.

"We have established designated sessions for the purpose of assigning 
counsel and addressing the immediate liberty interests of the 
incarcerated defendants serving time in connection with a drug 
conviction stemming from a questionable drug analysis," the court 
wrote in a press release on Tuesday.

Court officials estimate three quarters of the initial cases are in 
Superior Court and the remainder are in Boston Municipal Court and 
the District Court. Court dates are being established for the cases 
"in the next several weeks" based on meetings with district attorneys 
and the defense bar. Suffolk Superior Court has scheduled cases for 
the weeks of Oct. 15 and Oct. 22.

Out of the first seven cases heard on Friday, only one was given bail 
based on Dookhan's involvement in his case. The court was set to hear 
19 cases, and only two defendants were granted stayed sentences.

Carlos Colon, 22, was being held in South Bay House of Correction, 
and was granted $500 cash bail and a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew by 
Judge Mary Ann Driscoll, whom Conley excluded from his criticism 
saying she was the "perfect judge for this."

Conley also said cases like Colon's were what the special court was 
established to handle.

"Since this whole investigation became known to the district 
attorneys, our motivation, our goal was to address cases like Mr. 
Colon," Conley said. "He should be released and released promptly."

Colon had been arrested along with someone else in the South End for 
allegedly selling someone three bags of crack cocaine in April 2010. 
The buyer was stopped, according to a police report, and when 
questioned about whether he had anything in his pockets, the man 
said, "Yeah, you got me. I have crack in my pocket."

The buyer had allegedly been propositioned after buying six bags of 
crack from another dealer, and he was spotted handing over $50 to 
Colon's accomplice who then walked into the Cathedral Grammar School 
yard with the buyer, the report said.

The buyer was found with nine bags of "white rock like substance 
believed to be crack cocaine," and according to Colon's case file, 
prosecutor's planned to call Dookhan as an expert witness.

Dookhan worked on some 34,000 cases, but admitted to State Police 
investigators in late August that she tampered with evidence and 
identified substances as drugs without testing it. She is facing 
criminal charges.

The fallout from the drug lab disclosures led to Department of Public 
Health Commissioner John Auerbach's resignation, and investigations 
by the Attorney General and the House Post Audit and Oversight 
Committee. On Friday, State Auditor Suzanne Bump told the News 
Service her office is not looking into it.

"[Because of] extensive other investigations taking place, we will 
not be auditing them," Bump said.

Colon pleaded guilty in March 2011 and was given a one-year suspended 
sentence, according to his docket sheet. In September 2011, he 
allegedly violated probation for alleged heroin trafficking in 
Stoughton, and in May 2012 he allegedly violated probation again, and 
was charged in Quincy District Court for drug possession and leaving 
the scene of property damage.

On Friday, the 22-year-old appeared in court sporting a beard and 
wearing a yellow shirt and upon entering the court room he smiled at 
a woman in the gallery. She later declined comment.

Colon's was the first case of the morning, and prosecutors agreed 
that he should be granted bail, but did not stay a sentence until the 
very last case, that of Michael Wells, who was released on personal 
recognizance with a curfew.

In other cases, defense attorneys told the judge they would not ask 
for a stay on a sentence, though they mentioned the potential that 
issues would be raised at a later date.

On Thursday, a court had issued a warrant for Marcus Pixley, 52, who 
had not attended a required court hearing after making bail, which 
was lowered because his case involved Dookhan. Pixley was 
subsequently apprehended by Quincy police, according to the Suffolk 
District Attorney's office.

Sorting out the tangle of cases connected to Dookhan will be an 
undertaking for prosecutors, public defenders and sheriffs  who have 
to transport the inmates to and from court, Conley said.

The Patrick administration has asked prosecutors to submit a 
supplemental budget request, but Conley could not yet estimate what 
the cost would be.

"To put a number on it right now, I really can't say," said Conley. 
He said it would be "in the multi-millions." Conley said the 
unraveling of evidence problems from the lab could add another 25,000 
to 30,000 cases to the office's caseload of 42,000 cases.

Patrick said much the same thing when asked about a news report that 
prosecutors might need $50 million. "I think it's too soon to say 
what the number is," Patrick said.
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