{"id":2815,"date":"2020-12-18T16:27:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T16:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=141053"},"modified":"2020-12-18T16:27:43","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T16:27:43","slug":"how-to-really-fix-a-drug-scandal-san-franciscos-district-attorney-sets-a-strong-example","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/18\/how-to-really-fix-a-drug-scandal-san-franciscos-district-attorney-sets-a-strong-example\/","title":{"rendered":"How to (Really) Fix a Drug Scandal: San Francisco\u2019s District Attorney Sets a Strong Example"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How to (Really) Fix a Drug Scandal: San Francisco\u2019s District Attorney Sets a Strong Example<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Last month, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin publicly posted a list of cases<\/span><\/a> potentially affected by misconduct recently discovered at the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).<\/span> His office\u2019s decision to fully assess the misconduct and commit to transparency stands in stark contrast to the ways in which public officials have handled past forensic negligence and misconduct elsewhere in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Weeks before, Mr. Boudin\u2019s office learned that a forensic laboratory technician at the OCME had been charged with stealing drug evidence<\/span><\/a> related to cases with the intent to sell. The technician worked in the OCME\u2019s office for 13 years and is thought to have been involved in<\/span> \u201cmore than 2,500 law enforcement investigations, including 500 death investigations, 1,200 sexual-assault investigations, and 800 DUI investigations,\u201d according to the district attorney\u2019s office<\/span><\/a>. The already extensive list of cases will be updated as more information becomes available. <\/span><\/p>\n

The office\u2019s public disclosure of its findings is a strong example of how such cases should be addressed, particularly when compared to Massachusetts\u2019 handling of large-scale misconduct at two state drug labs, which was spotlighted in Netflix\u2019s documentary series<\/span><\/a>, How to Fix a Drug Scandal<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The series recounts two drug lab scandals in Massachusetts that first came to light in 2012 and 2013. One involved chemist Annie Doohkan, who falsified drug evidence for years; the other centered on Amherst chemist Sonja Farak, who stole drug evidence to support her substance abuse and then falsified evidence, and the poor response of the Massachusetts attorney general\u2019s office to her misconduct. But what How to Fix a Drug Scandal<\/em> actually shows is how not to<\/em> handle the aftermath of laboratory misconduct.<\/span><\/p>\n

Massachusetts\u2019 Mismanaged Misconduct<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

This fall \u2014 seven years after Ms. Farak was arrested on drug charges \u2014 three of the former prosecutors finally faced a public disciplinary hearing<\/span><\/a> over their alleged roles in the withholding of information about Ms. Farak\u2019s drug use and its potential impact on her work. The Innocence Project and Prof. Daniel Medwed filed formal complaints<\/span><\/a> against two of these prosecutors in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

To date, more than 24,000 tainted drug convictions<\/span><\/a> in which Ms. Farak tested evidence have been dismissed due to laboratory failures and prosecutorial misconduct. More than 37,000 drug convictions<\/span><\/a> involving evidence that passed through Ms. Dookhan\u2019s lab have been tossed.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the remedial process in Ms. Farak\u2019s and Ms. Dookhan\u2019s cases have taken far too long, draining more of the legal system\u2019s resources than was necessary, largely a result of failures by both local district attorney\u2019s offices and the attorney general\u2019s office. In both scandals, prosecutors failed to engage in transparent practices, resisted<\/span><\/a> meaningful systemic notification and corrective measures, and, in Ms. Farak\u2019s case, engaged in an effort to cover up<\/span><\/a> egregious misconduct.<\/span><\/p>\n

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