New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Here’s a statement from the Bristol County District Attorney’s office regarding the Annie Dookhan case dismissals. The ACLU of Massachusetts estimates about 20,000 cases in total will be thrown out.
“Today we are complying with the Bridgeman ruling issued by the Supreme Judicial Court in January. Consistent with the court’s order, we are filing a list moving for dismissal on every district court charge that fits the criteria identified by the court. We are also moving for dismissal in superior court cases where the evidence no longer exists and, consistent with the court criteria, where we could not maintain a prosecution.
In total, we will ask the court to dismiss in excess of 1,500 cases, comprising more than 2,300 individual charges. We already, during the last several years, disposed of a number of Dookhan cases in the district and superior court. During that time, we dealt with more than 100 defendants and I personally helped dispose of a number of these cases prior to becoming district attorney.
We have worked hard to strike a balance between maintaining the integrity of the system and protecting public safety in many of these cases. To that end, we are certifying that, consistent with the court’s order, we have independent evidence in 112 cases and will seek to maintain those convictions.
The actions of Annie Dookhan have imperiled the prosecution of thousands of drug cases throughout the commonwealth, including in some cases, defendants who presented a danger to the community. By resolving these cases, hopefully we can move past this sad chapter involving Ms. Dookhan’s egregious misconduct while working at the drug lab.”
