20,000 CASES, NO WINNER
Dismissals close a dismal chapter
Disgraced former state chemist Annie Dookhan caused the dismissal of thousands of drug convictions, spurred countless hours of complicated litigation and cast doubt on the integrity of the criminal justice system.
As we move past this dark moment in Massachusetts history, there are only victories that come with too great a cost.
District attorneys yesterday were forced to throw out roughly 20,000 cases that they had spent time and public money pursuing. A Supreme Judicial Court decision gave them no other option.
“Let’s keep in mind that we are not dealing with actual innocence here, we are dealing with drug defendants the overwhelming majority of whom plead guilty,” Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said in a statement, adding later: “Some are having their cases dismissed because we believe that the integrity of our system of justice is more important than their conviction.”
Meanwhile, outside the John Adams Courthouse, civil rights attorneys and public defenders praised a high court decision that finally drew a line in the sand and stopped a disastrous saga from stretching on any further.
“We’re all overjoyed today at having what we believe is the largest dismissal of criminal cases as the result of one case in the history of the United States of America,” said Carlton Williams, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Massachusetts.
After giving their statements, civil rights attorneys and public defenders went into the court, ripped open envelopes from state prosecutors and began crunching the numbers. In a meeting room just two doors away from where the SJC makes its biggest decisions, four ACLU staffers pored over spreadsheets until the building closed for the night.
It looked like a celebratory moment, but in reality, there are no winners.
Justice was delayed and denied for so many who will likely never fully benefit from yesterday’s historic moment. Drug convictions stymied some from getting jobs, from finding a home and in some cases led to deportations.
Their records may be cleared, but there is no real recourse outside of long-shot civil suits against the state.
Perhaps the saddest takeaway from this whole embarrassing fiasco is the depth of the ongoing drug problem.
Dookhan’s misconduct shone a light on just how often these cases are prosecuted and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. For example, Kevin Bridgeman — one of the lead defendants in the SJC suit that led to yesterday’s mass dismissal — again faces drug charges.
Meanwhile, there is another burgeoning criminal justice crisis percolating in Western Massachusetts, where the extent of former state chemist Sonja Farak’s misdeeds are still being calculated.
Once again, all sides of the criminal justice system will have to take a somber look in the mirror.
And no one should be smiling.