Sentences on hold in Mass. crime lab scandal

BOSTON -- One at a time, the prison inmates sat down at a wooden table, linked by videoconference to a Boston courtroom, where their attorneys and prosecutors explained the role a disgraced chemist played in their criminal cases.

One by one, the judge agreed to let them go free while their legal challenges make their way through the courts, placing their sentences on hold and setting bail.

The fallout from a scandal at a state drug lab played out in court yesterday, as Judge Christine McEvoy began hearing what is expected to be nearly 200 legal challenges in Suffolk Superior Court drug cases.

The chemist, Annie Dookhan, 34, of Franklin, has been charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly skirting protocols and faking test results at a former Department of Public Health lab. The Boston lab was closed by state police in August after Dookhan allegedly told them she had faked results, forged paperwork and sometimes mixed samples. She has pleaded not guilty.

The scandal has put thousands of criminal cases in jeopardy. Dookhan tested more than 60,000 samples covering about 34,000 defendants in her nine years at the lab, according to state police.

Yesterday was the first day of a two-week special session set up to hear challenges in Suffolk Superior Court, which covers Boston. Similar sessions have been scheduled in courts around the state.

The assembly line-style of hearing cases via videoconference made for some unusually casual moments.

After the judge greeted the first inmate, he responded, "How ya doin'?" The judge told another defendant she would set bail at $1,000 and asked him if he agreed to the terms of his release, including GPS monitoring and an overnight curfew.

The inmate responded, "Yes, I'm OK with that."

During the morning session, McEvoy granted defense motions to place sentences on hold and set bail for about 10 inmates now serving time at the state prison in Norfolk. Prosecutors agreed to those motions after producing drug analysis certificates showing that Dookhan was the chemist either on initial tests or a second confirmatory tests.

The judge made it clear that the cases against the inmates were not over.