‘Stunning’ Drug Lab Scandal Could Overturn 23,000 Convictions

[Locutus]

In the annals of wrongful convictions, there is nothing that comes close in size to the epic drug-lab scandal that is entering its dramatic final act in Massachusetts.

About 23,000 people convicted of low-level drug crimes are expected to have their cases wiped away next month en masse, the result of a five-year court fight over the work of a rogue chemist.

"It's absolutely stunning. I have never seen anything like it," said Suzanne Bell, a professor at West Virginia University who serves on the National Commission of Forensic Science. "It's unbelievable to me that it could have even happened. And then when you look at the scope of the number of cases that may be dismissed or vacated, there are no words for it."

behold:


'Stunning' Drug Lab Scandal Could Overturn 23,000 Convictions - NBC News

 

[Danbones]

The prosecutors didn't want the scandal to end like this. They fought for a way to preserve the convictions, and leave it to the defendants to challenge them.

Civil rights groups and defense lawyers argued for all the cases to be dropped, saying that was the only way to ensure justice.

Interesting how prosecutors( and the cops) think their career stats are more important then justice...
They must own prison license plate stocks or something.

Maybe they should go make some themselves for a while

"It's a soup-to-nuts indictment of the war on drugs,"

Damned straight that.

 

[damngrumpy]

As the war on drugs continues to be lost authorities rely more and more
on these kinds of tactics. It was once said DNA was the answer as DNA
doesn't lie. Within a few years people found ways to plant DNA at crime
scenes. Law enforcement is put in a bigger bind all the time for two reasons
First there is not enough resources and second the new people come in to
the system with more knowledge and fewer ethics