Ex-Chemist Faces Sixth Arraignment — This Time In Salem

The ex-chemist whose work will have tainted thousands of drug lab cases across the state will face another arraignment today.

Annie Dookhan will be in Salem Superior Court for her sixth arraignment Monday for a charge of obstruction of justice, according to the Salem News.

Dookhan pleaded not guilty to 15 charges in Suffolk Superior Court Dec. 20. The charges included four counts of obstruction of justice, eight counts of tampering with evidence and one count of falsely pretending to hold a degree from a college or university. 

She pleaded not guilty to charges in Norfolk Superior Court in January well.

She faces a total of 27 charges in counties around the state.

She pleaded not guilty to charges in Norfolk Superior Court earlier this month as well.

Dookhan is the centerpiece in a state drug lab crisis that has affected the outcome of thousands of cases. Over 200 defendants have been released since Dookhan admitted to falsifying drug test results while working at the Hinton Drug Lab in Jamaica Plain. Some of those released have been arrested on new drug charges.

Questions about the culture at the lab, and Dookhan’s relationship with prosecutors, began to arise at hearings toward the end of the last year.

Surren Dookhan, Annie Dookhan’s husband, sent a text message to George Papachristos, former Norfolk Count assistant district attorney and a noted friend of Annie Dookhan, calling her a liar, according to The Boston Globe Jan. 9.

For more on one of the convictions at risk in Essex County, please visit the Salem News.