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Sunday, November 24, 2013
By Michael Nichols
Categories: Michael J. Nichols
A disgraced forensic lab analyst for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was ordered to serve prison time on November 21st, 2013 for a practice known as "dry labbing" and other fraud. The bogus lab reports by Annie Dookham led to the release of both guilty and innocent defendants in the Massachusetts criminal justice system.
Mike Nichols is a DUI-criminal defense attorney in East Lansing who also teaches forensic evidence in criminal law at WMU/Cooley Law School in Lansing. He says the case is probably a rarity but not a total shock: "Ms. Dookham is an illustration of exactly the nature of every single forensic lab report in the United States - human influence on a so-called scientific procedure."
Coverage of the Dookham story can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/23/us/prison-for-state-chemist-who-faked-drug-evidence.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0
Nichols says that depending on the individual culture, any given crime lab can be a cesspool of shoddy work resulting from an emphasis on volume over quality. "We see such dynamics all over, including the toxicology lab in Lansing, which is under enormous pressure to crank out results quickly."
For the lawyers who lead the way in forensic evidence and stay involved in the leading issues and news that may impact your case, contact the lawyers at the Nichols Law Firm at 517.432.9000. Find out why we are committed to results.