Three Hundred Inmates Released Thanks To Chemist Who Faked Evidence

 

 

” Following the release of more than 300 inmates, Annie Dookhan, a Massachusetts state chemist who used to “process” drug samples almost three times as quickly as her colleagues, pled guilty Friday to fabricating her results. Police estimate her fraud possibly tainted as many as 40,000 prosecutions that she was involved in.

The 35-year-old chemist not only lied about results, declaring untested samples positive, but also tampered with evidence, forged other people’s signatures, and lied about her own credentials. She was sentenced to three to five years in prison.

Dookhan’s superiors began to suspect something was wrong when they audited her work back in 2010 due to her unusually fast case turnover. Although the audit revealed no wrongdoing, she was caught forging a coworker’s initials just a year later. Dookhan was suspended, but still allowed to testify as an expert witness in criminal cases. ” 

Tell me again why we should trust the State . 

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