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- Title
Into the Rabbit-Hole: Annie Dookhan Confronts Melendez-Diaz.
- Authors
Del Signore, Anthony
- Abstract
In mid-2012, it came to light that Annie Dookhan, a chemist from the Hin-ton State Laboratory in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, who had prepared thousands of certifications and testified at thousands of trials over the course of almost a decade at the lab, had lied on certifications, altered drug evidence, and even lied on her resume. Since these allegations came to light, as many as 60,000 drug samples and 34,000 drug cases either have been or could be affected, hundreds of defendants have been released from jail, the Hinton State Laboratory has closed, and Dookhan has been arraigned on twenty-seven charges, ranging from evidence tampering to obstruction of justice. Annie Dookhan has changed the game for defendants and for the Commonwealth. She has also pointed a spotlight on the U.S. Supreme Court's 2009 holding in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, which held that drug certificates offered at trial as evidence to prove that drugs possessed by defendants were indeed drugs, would violate the Confronta-tion Clause of the Sixth Amendment without the presence of the testing chemist. This Note argues that the Dookhan fiasco illustrates the im-portance of the Melendez-Diaz holding, and that it is a potential warning for other jurisdictions, which should take proactive steps to address the is-sues presented. The Note also attempts to provide practical suggestions for both defense attorneys and for the government as they attempt to deal with the fallout from the Dookhan scandal.
- Subjects
DOOKHAN, Annie; EVIDENCE tampering; OBSTRUCTION of justice; MELENDEZ-Diaz v. Massachusetts (Supreme Court case); UNITED States. Constitution. 6th Amendment; EVIDENCE fabrication (Law); LEGAL evidence; ACTIONS &; defenses (Law)
- Publication
New England Journal on Criminal & Civil Confinement, 2014, Vol 40, Issue 1, p161
- ISSN
0740-8994
- Publication type
Article