Massachusetts crime lab scandal could widen as another chemist is investigated

The district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts is investigating a drug lab chemist named Della Saunders who used to work at the state’s Hinton forensic lab. She was the de facto team leader of Annie Dookhan, who was arrested in September 2012 for tampering with evidence and has already served a prison sentence for her action. A second forensic chemist at the now closed Hinton lab, Sonja Farak, was also arrested in January 2013 and sent to prison for similar offences. Dookhan and Farak’s fraudulent drug sample analysis ultimately resulted in tens of thousands of drug convictions being overturned in Massachusetts.’