Dookhan is currently facing 27 counts of tampering with drug evidence while working at the state lab in Jamaica Plain between 2003 and 2012, compromising thousands of cases and resulting in a number of convictions being overturned. Dookhan has pled not guilty to the charges.
“Dookhan’s actions have exposed a systemic failure in the operation of the state drug lab which demands that we take immediate action to ensure that both public safety and the prosecution of drug-related crimes are not compromised,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), who will be filing legislation this week with Assistant Minority Leader Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), Minority Whip Richard Ross (R-Wenham) and Senator Michael Knapik (R-Westfield), the Ranking Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
The proposed five-member board – which will have oversight authority over all state facilities engaged in forensic services in criminal investigations – will consist of the secretary of public safety and security, the attorney general, the inspector general, the colonel of state police, or their designees, along with one appointee from the Governor. The undersecretary of public safety for forensic sciences will advise and report to the board on the administration and delivery of forensic services at such facilities.
“We need to create a new infrastructure of oversight, accountability, transparency and integrity, and this legislation will accomplish these goals,” said Senator Tarr.
The
Caucus proposal requires that each forensic services facility be fully and actively
accredited with the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory
Accreditation Board and compliant with standards promulgated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The
bill requires:
·
Quarterly
reports from the undersecretary of public safety for forensic sciences that
will include, but not be limited to, information regarding:
-
The
volume of forensic services at each facility;
-
The
volume of forensic services of each employee at such facilities;
-
The
costs and length of time from submission for testing or procedures and the
return of results from such facilities;
-
Compliance
with accreditation standards of such facilities; and
-
Facility
employee records, qualifications, and incident reports.
·
A
minimum of one public oversight hearing per year for the board to receive
testimony relative to the operations of state laboratories;
·
A
system to receive complaints or tips about potential problems at a state
laboratory via telephone and e-mail;
·
Certification
that all state laboratories are accredited in accordance with the other
requirements of the bill; and
·
The
timely reporting of suspected or potential criminal wrongdoing to the Attorney
General for investigation and prosecution.
