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Massachusetts to dismiss over 20k of wrongful convictions, caused by one person

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Slayven

Member
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...tion=black-voices&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000051

Thousands of people at the center of one of the largest drug lab scandals in U.S. history can breathe a collective sigh of relief thanks to former Massachusetts state chemist Annie Dookhan.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, prosecutors in seven districts on Tuesday moved to dismiss criminal cases in which Dookhan fabricated evidence.

”Today is a major victory for justice and fairness, and for thousands of people in the Commonwealth who were unfairly convicted of drug offenses," said Matthew Segal, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts ACLU estimates roughly 20,000 cases have been tossed out, making it the single largest dismissal of wrongful convictions in U.S. history.

The dismissals came after nearly five years of legal wrangling between the prosecutors who fought to preserve the convictions and defense attorneys and civil rights groups who argued they should be tossed.

”Unfortunately, the victims of this crisis waited far too long for justice," Segal said. ”It shouldn't have taken years of litigation by the ACLU, public defenders, and pro bono lawyers to address this stain on the Commonwealth's justice system."

2 things they always him and haw over giving people justice when the courts fuck up, and second you know there are still people that will be missed

For her part in the scandal, Dookhan pleaded guilty to multiple charges in 2013, including 17 counts of obstruction of justice and eight counts of tampering with evidence. She was ultimately sentenced to three to five years in prison.
3 to 5 years folks, 3 to five years
 
Don't let it being a "liberal stronghold" fool you.

MA is just as racist as anywhere.

Ruin so many lives and get three years.

No words.
 

Burt

Member
Was this the person who was wowing people with her output, who was doing like triple the work of everyone else in her lab, and it turned out it was because she would just fabricate positives right off the bat?
 

Matty77

Member
It's about time. This is the correct move to keep what little integrity the law has left.

I remember following this story because it's in my area of the world, though I don't think it's affected anyone I personally know because it's a different area of the state, not sure how lab work is divided by counties and district.
 

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
I remember reading a story while back of these huge ass backlogs these specialists get paid almost per case

One lady fucked it up so bad, she just read the name, created bullshit about the case and got paid crazy amount due to case load

Prosecutors loved the shit out of her until all of it was exposed, then the wha ha ha happened ya see, we can't let these criminals go free, they've been labeled criminals even if it was through falsehood, it should stick!

I think she got 10+ years
 

Fuchsdh

Member
20,000, holy shit

How much of a fuckup was this guy

Might want to read the article.

Wow, why on earth would anyone do that? Holy crap.

Doesn't really give much info, but it seems like it was less malicious and more "don't care about the consequences, my numbers look good" stuff: http://badchemistry.legacy.wbur.org/2013/05/15/annie-dookhan-drug-testing-productivity

Which was compounded by the fact that there's always a big backlog in this so the higher-ups ignored the warning signs for much longer than they should (how was this person outperforming everyone consistently?)

For those wondering, looks like MA law allows restitution, but only if the wrongfully convicted can present convincing evidence of their innocence. Less than 60ish individuals have gotten settlements from the state according to: https://eye.necir.org/investigations/wrongful-convictions-compensation/
 

Wolfe

Member
Was this the person who was wowing people with her output, who was doing like triple the work of everyone else in her lab, and it turned out it was because she would just fabricate positives right off the bat?

I believe so, yes.
 

Slayven

Member
Might want to read the article.



Doesn't really give much info, but it seems like it was less malicious and more "don't care about the consequences, my numbers look good" stuff: http://badchemistry.legacy.wbur.org/2013/05/15/annie-dookhan-drug-testing-productivity

Which was compounded by the fact that there's always a big backlog in this so the higher-ups ignored the warning signs for much longer than they should (how was this person outperforming everyone consistently?)

When you are playing with folk's lives like that that, it is malicious
 

Matty77

Member
My tax money paid this awful woman's salary and commission.

Ugh.
It's disgusting and should have zero tolerance any time it's found to have happened.

Prosecuting the perpetrator is different but the cases affected should have been thrown out immediately and records scrubbed not years of reporting, investigations and public and private pressure.
 

cameron

Member
Dookhan was released on parole last year after serving less time than many of the people she helped victimize.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the cases were particularly damaging to “low-income and black and brown” communities.

“Although the so-called ‘Dookhan defendants’ completed their lengthy prison sentences, they continued to suffer the harsh collateral consequences of their tainted convictions, which limited employment prospects, diminished housing opportunities and threatened lawful immigration status,” said Boston trial lawyer Daniel Marx, of Fick & Marx LLP.
She's already out on parole. The victims will always be fucked.
 
It's disgusting and should have zero tolerance any time it's found to have happened.

Prosecuting the perpetrator is different but the cases affected should have been thrown out immediately and records scrubbed not years of reporting, investigations and public and private pressure.
Our justice system is broken that these people's lives have been unalterably destroyed because one woman lied for profit.

Over twenty THOUSAND people.
 

jetsetrez

Member
THREE TO FIVE YEARS? Fuck that life-ruining, destructive bitch. Twenty thousand fucking lives, and she gets three to five?

God, things like this make me so crazy. Just the absolutely shameful embarrassment that is our prison system, in general. When marijuana becomes legal in most states and has the domino effect that gay marriage had, and everyone suddenly wakes up and realizes "why the fuck do we care about this?" and it becomes legal federally, it's going to be such an obvious, sad waste of life and energy and humanity, let alone capital and potential, that has been committed on countless lives. There will be no way to repay it, and the people that have enforced it deserve to feel shame for the rest of their lives.
 

Snagret

Member
Disgustingly enough, she's already released from prison on parole. What a fucked up story, christ. I'm really curious what her motivations were.
 

Slayven

Member
You would think folks will be raising more hell considering all the wasted money and time. And the forth coming lawsuits.
 

Afrikan

Member
I know GAF likes to be PC, so I won't say how I really feel.

but hopefully no one hires her, and if some company does...people raise hell. Her life should be ruined forever.
 

low-G

Member
Now just bankrupt the state utterly. Each of those people is probably eligible for hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in damages.
 
It should be several life sentences at the least considering how many lives she has ruined, or partially did so. 20k is the population of a sizable town.
 
She might be better off in jail than out and about and in the real world. There are going to be some very angry people on the lookout for this woman and the slap on the wrist jail sentence will only amplify that anger.
 

Switch Back 9

a lot of my threads involve me fucking up somehow. Perhaps I'm a moron?
How could you even sleep at night. I mean honestly, this is like cartoonishly evil. I can't wrap my head around how this could not bother someone.


And I know people will just say "she's just a racist" or "some people are just evil" but that doesn't scratch the surface of how outrageously fucked up her mind must be.
 

shira

Member
20,000, holy shit

How much of a fuckup was this guy

85a0586911d2f4298c491c083d9e7d58_either-you-die-a-hero-or-live-you-either-die-a-hero-meme_500-285.jpeg
 

jett

D-Member
Three to five years? What a bunch of bullshit. That person needs to have their life ruined.

And these prosecuting motherfuckers fighting to keep the wrongful convictions.

I wonder what's gonna happen with the 20k peeps. I imagine they'll collectively sue the state.
 
Liberal justice.

Nice try bud, but liberals have always fought for more restitution for those who are falsely imprisoned, as well as stiffer punishments for those who falsely imprison. This is because blacks are falsely imprisoned a lot, and conservatives didn't want to pay them out because they supported their false imprisonment. It also relates to how it grant leniency to law enforcement when they subvert the law to make arrests. Something liberals have also fought against.

This is conservative justice. Prove she'd get more in a deep south state.
 

Enzom21

Member
Might want to read the article.



Doesn't really give much info, but it seems like it was less malicious and more "don't care about the consequences, my numbers look good" stuff: http://badchemistry.legacy.wbur.org/2013/05/15/annie-dookhan-drug-testing-productivity

Which was compounded by the fact that there's always a big backlog in this so the higher-ups ignored the warning signs for much longer than they should (how was this person outperforming everyone consistently?)

For those wondering, looks like MA law allows restitution, but only if the wrongfully convicted can present convincing evidence of their innocence. Less than 60ish individuals have gotten settlements from the state according to: https://eye.necir.org/investigations/wrongful-convictions-compensation/

I would love to hear what you would actually consider malicious.
 

Zackat

Member
This happening in a state run lab is terrible. How she did this for so long to rack up 20k false results without getting caught is just hard to imagine. She ruined peoples lives.

There are a lot of sketchy private drug testing labs opening up, at least here in Florida. I suspect/worry this kind of thing could be happening more than we know in these types of labs. My professors warn us to not work in places like this because they are kind of in the wild west right now with how they operate.
 
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