Local News  Mass. chemist to be arraigned in drug lab scandal
Posted: 12/20/12 at 5:05 am Tags: Massachusetts   chemist  
Annie Dookhan   drug lab   scandal       BOSTON (AP) -- A
chemist at the center of a testing scandal at a now-closed
Massachusetts drug lab faces arraignment on 27 charges,
including perjury and tampering with evidence.  Annie Dookhan is
scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court.
Dookhan was indicted Monday on 17 counts of obstruction of
justice, eight counts of tampering with evidence, perjury and
pretending to hold a master's degree.  Attorney General Martha
Coakley alleges that Dookhan fabricated test results and
tampered with drug evidence while she was testing substances in
criminal cases.  The scandal has thrown the legal system into
chaos. Since the lab Dookhan worked at was shut down in August,
judges have released about 200 defendants from prison and put
their cases on hold.  Dookhan pleaded not guilty when she was
initially arrested on three counts in Septemb