Prosecutors toss thousands of tainted drug cases

By: The Associated Press

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BOSTON, M.A. –More than 19,000 drug convictions in Massachusetts are being recommended for dismissal by prosecutors after they were tainted by a former state drug lab chemist who pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and falsifying tests.                

The number could rise as additional district attorneys make recommendations.             

Annie Dookhan pleaded guilty in 2013 to charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and tampering with evidence and was sentenced to three years in prison.              

The state Supreme Judicial Court had ordered district attorneys in eastern Massachusetts to produce lists by the end of Tuesday indicating how many of the approximately 24,000 affected cases involving Dookhan they’d be unwilling or unable to prosecute if new trials were ordered.

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