Commonwealth v. Charles, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-138-13)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC‑11408 SJC-11409 SJC-11410 COMMONWEALTH vs. SHUBAR CHARLES. COMMONWEALTH vs. HECTOR MILETTE. DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT vs. SUPERIOR COURT DEPARTMENT OF THE TRIAL COURT. Suffolk. May 9, 2013. ‑ July 22, 2013. Present: Ireland, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ. Controlled Substances. Superior Court, Special magistrate. Practice, Criminal, Postconviction relief, Execution of sentence, Sentence, Plea. Supreme Judicial Court, Superintendence of inferior courts. Civil actions commenced in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on February 14, February 21, and March 1, 2013. The cases were reported by Botsford, J. Ronald DeRosa, Assistant District Attorney (Elin H. Gaydon, Assistant District Attorney, with him) for the Commonwealth & another. Beth Eisenberg, Committee for Public Counsel Services (Matthew R. Segal with her) for Shubar Charles. Matthew R. Segal (Emma A. Anderson, of New York, with him) for Hector Milette. Jennifer Grace Miller, Assistant Attorney General, for Superior Court Department of the Trial Court. The following submitted briefs for amici curiae: Joel Z. Eigerman for Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action & others. C. Samuel Sutter, District Attorney, & Eva Zelnick, Assistant District Attorney, for District Attorney for the Bristol District. Ryan Schiff & Benjamin H. Keehn, Committee for Public Counsel Services, & Alex G. Philipson for Committee for Public Counsel Services & another. SPINA, J. In June, 2011, allegations of misconduct at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute in Jamaica Plain (Hinton drug lab) surfaced regarding work performed by Annie Dookhan, a chemist who had been employed in the forensic drug laboratory since November, 2003. Following an internal review, the Department of Public Health launched a formal investigation of the matter in December, 2011. The investigation concluded that “Dookhan failed to follow [Hinton drug l]ab protocols for the transfer and documentation of samples for testing, and subsequently created a false record of said transfers.” After being placed on paid administrative leave, Dookhan resigned from her position, effective March 9, 2012. A more extensive investigation of the Hinton drug lab was initiated in August, 2012, by the State police. As a result of this investigation, it has been alleged that, among other things, Dookhan deliberately and repeatedly falsified drug testing results, tampered with evidence, and forged signatures on documents. Although the full scope […]