February 4

Ex-Mass. chemist pleads not guilty in crime lab case

The Associated Press

SALEM, Mass. — A former Massachusetts chemist accused of faking test results at a state drug lab has pleaded not guilty at her sixth and final arraignment.

click image to enlarge

Former state lab chemist Annie Dookhan, center, speaks with her lawyer Nick Gordon, left, at Middlesex Superior Court as she waits for her for arraignment to begin with her father, Rasheed Khan, on Jan. 9, 2013, in Woburn, Mass. She is charged in connection with altering drug evidence during the testing process and obstructing justice.

AP

Annie Dookhan was arraigned Monday on a charge of misleading a grand jury prosecutor and judge. She and her attorney declined to comment after the brief hearing. She has been free on $10,000 bail and prosecutors did not ask the judge in Salem to increase it.

Dookhan is accused of falsely claiming she holds a master's degree in chemistry while testifying as an expert witness. She has already pleaded not guilty to a string of charges in five other counties.

Dookhan was indicted in December on a total of 27 charges related to her alleged misconduct at the lab.

The scandal could jeopardize thousands of criminal cases.

 

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