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In fall 2012, just five months before her arrest, Annie Dookhan confessed to faking analyses and altering samples in the Boston testing facility where she worked. In June 2011, Dookhan secretly took 90 samples out of an evidence locker and then forged a co-worker's initials to check them back in, a clear chain-of-custody breach. I felt euphoric, Kogan wrote of Farak. Sonja Farak was a chemist for a state crime lab in Massachusetts. Earlier that day, a chemist at the Amherst drug lab had tracked two samples that were missing from the evidence locker to Sonja Farak's bench. Sonja Farak is at the center of Netflix's new true crime docuseries, How To Fix a Drug Scandal. Dookhan was sentenced to prison in 2013. They wrote that Lee, disabled by a stew of mental ailments, [spent] her hours surfing the Web in a haze.. It ultimately took a blatant violation to expose Dookhan, and even then her bosses twisted themselves in knots to hold on to their "super woman.". A second unsealed report into allegations of wrongdoing by police and prosecutors who handled the Farak evidence, overseen by retired state judges Peter Velis and Thomas Merrigan, drew less attention. Sonja Farak, who worked as a chemist at the Amherst drug lab since 2004, was arrested in January 2013 after one of her co-workers noticed samples were missing from evidence. Nassif put Dookhan on desk duty but allowed her to finish testing cases already on her plate, including some of the samples she had taken from the locker. Why did she do that and where has it left her? Here's Where Sonja Farak Is Now, After 'How to Fix a Drug Scandal' Sonja Farak: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. She recovered, made it through college and got a job as a chemist at the Amherst Crime Lab, where she tested confiscated drugs. Per her own court testimony, as shown in the docu-series, Farak started working at a state drug lab in Amherst in 2004. She was released in 2015, as reported by Mass Live. In a rare move, the judicial office that brings disciplinary cases against lawyers in Massachusetts has accused a prosecutor of professional misconduct, including allegations that she failed to share critical information with defense lawyers and attempted to interfere with defense witnesses. This threw every sample she had ever tested into question. Kaczmarek argued before the BBO, and in response to Penate's lawsuit, that she was focused on prosecuting Farak and not defendants, like Penate, whose criminal cases were affected by Farak's misconduct. memo to Judge Kinder the next week, Foster said she reviewed the file, and said every document in it had already been disclosed. As Solotaroff recounts in detail, Massachusetts attorney Luke Ryan represented two people who were accused of drug charges that Farak had analyzed . | In 2012, she began taking from co-workers' samples, forging intake forms and editing the lab database to cover her tracks. As he leafed through three boxes of evidence, he found the substance abuse worksheets and diaries. In a March 2013 Farak's reports were central to thousands of cases, and the fact that she ran analyses while high and regularly dipped into "urge-ful" samples casts doubt on thousands of convictions. NORTHAMPTON Sonja J. Farak told a nurse at the Western Massachusetts Exhausted from the ongoing scandal in Boston, state officials were desperate for damage control. Farak had started taking drugs on the job within months of joining the lab. May 2003 started working in Hinton drug lab p. 14. "he didn't request a warrant. The special hearing officer found Kaczmarek "displayed no remorse" and was "not candid" during the disciplinary proceedings. Nassif considered it a lapse in judgment, but not a disqualifying one; Nassif's boss didn't think it necessary to alert the prosecutors whose cases relied on the samples, much less the defendants. Martha Coakley, then attorney general for the state, argued in Melendez-Diaz that a chemist's certificate contains only "neutral, objective facts." She was also under the influence when she took the stand during her trial. "Forensic evidence is not uniquely immune from the risk of manipulation," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority. One reason that didn't happen, he says: "the determination Coakley and her team made the morning after Farak's arrest that her misconduct did not affect the due process rights of any Farak defendants." State chemist may have affected more drug cases than previously known concluded she was usually high while working in the lab for more than eight years before her arrest in January 2013 and started stealing samples seven years ago. At some point, the attorney general's office stopped chasing leads entirely. Support GBH. Inwardly though, Sonja Farak was striving. Magistrate Judge Robertson denied a request in Penate's lawsuit that Kaczmarek be prohibited from contesting the special hearing officer's findings. Farak was getting high off the confiscated drugs police sent her way before replacing the evidence with fake drugs. Coakley assigned the case against Dookhan to Assistant Attorney General Anne Kaczmarek and her supervisor, John Verner. Farak worked under the influence of drugs for nine years - from 2004 to 2013 - before she was caught. Sgt. It's been like this forever, or at least since girlhood. The judge ordered prosecutors and defense attorneys to coordinate on identifying undisclosed emails related to documents seized from the disgraced state crime lab chemist. According to a newspaper article from 1992, she was the first female in Rhode Island to be on a high school football team. Her wrongdoings were exposed when unsealed cocaine and a crack pipe were found under her desk. For years, Sonja Farak was addicted to cocaine, methamphetamine, and amphetamines, the kind of drugs usually bought from street dealers in covert transactions that carry the constant risk of arrest. Release year: 2020. They never searched Farak's computer or her home. His report deemed Dookhan the "sole bad actor" at the lab, a finding that remains disputed in some circles. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); NEXT: Zoning Makes the Green New Deal Impossible. At the time of her arrest, she had resided in 37 Laurel Park in Northampton. One colleague called her the "super woman of the lab. One was clearly dated November 16, 2011a year and two months before her arrest. The medical records stated that she did not have an existing drug problem that was amplified by her access to more substances. The Netflix docuseries ends by acknowledging that Farak received an 18-month sentence, and that defense attorney Luke Ryan was able . In December 2011, after police in Springfield, Mass., had arrested Renaldo Penate for allegedly selling heroin, the drugs from that case were tested at a state drug lab by technician Sonja Farak. The lone dissenting justice called the decision "too little and too late" and argued that the severity of the scandal required tossing all the cases. In a 61 ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court in 2017, the defense bar, led by public defenders and the Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), won the dismissal of almost every conviction based on Dookhan's analysismore than 36,000 cases in all. Deval Patrick's office didn't learn about the protocol breach until December 2011. Where Is Sonja Farak Now? According to the notes, Farak thought it gave her energy, helped her to get things done and not procrastinate, feel more positive., Her partner Nikki Lee testified before a grand jury that she herself had tried cocaine, that she had observed Farak using cocaine in 2000, and that she had marijuana in her house when police officers arrived to search the premises as part of their investigation of Farak., In Faraks testimony during a grand jury investigation, she said that she became a recreational drug user during graduate school and used cocaine, marihuana, and ecstasy. She also said she used heroin one time and was nervous and sick and hated every minute of it [and had] no desire to use [it] again., Farak met and settled down with Nikki Lee in her 20s. He emailed them to Kaczmareksubject: "FARAK Admissions." Faraks wife had her own mental health problems, and according to Rolling Stone, Farak would have conflict with her wife every night at home. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. The new numbers appear in a report issued by a court-designated "Special Master." Only a few months after Dookhan's conviction, it was discovered that another Massachusetts crime lab worker, Sonja Farak, who was addicted to drugs, not only stole her supply from the. He also Here are those forms with the admissions of drug use I was talking about," a state police sergeant wrote to Assistant Attorney General Anne Kaczmarek, who led Faraks prosecution, in a The state's top court took an even harsher view, ruling in October 2018 that the attorney general's office as an institution was responsible for the prosecutorial misconduct of its former employees. Investigators gave that information to Kaczmarek and the state AG's office,according tohearings before thestate board that disciplines attorneys. There is no allegation of misconduct against the local prosecutors who presented the case against Penate in Hampden County Superior Court. Sonja Farak: Defendant Rafael Rodriguez died of drug overdose - MEAWW She was sentenced in 2014 to 18 months in prison and 5 years of probation. When she got married, it turned out that her wife, too, suffered from her own demons, and their collective anguish made Sonja desperate for a reprieve from this life. Local prosecutors also remained in the dark. Verner's "marching orders," he later testified, were to prosecute Farak with "what was in front of us, the car, things that were readily apparent. . Another worksheet had the month and weekdays for December 2011, which police easily could have determined by cross-referencing holidays or looking up a New England Patriots game mentioned in one entry. Lets find out. Sonja Farak, a chemist with a longterm mental health struggle, is the catalyst of the story, but it doesn't end with her. But unlike with Dookhan, no one launched a bigger investigation of Farak. Sonja Farak Cracked Out - Rough Diplomacy Ryan finally viewed the file in the attorney generals offices in October 2014. Between the two women, 47,000 drug convictions and guilty pleas have been dismissed in the last two years, many for misdemeanor possession. Sonja Farak worked as a chemist for the state of Massachusetts, specializing in identifying illegal substances. This is the story of Farak's drug-induced wrongdoings, and it's the. This was not true, as Nassif's department later conceded. But she proceeded on the hunch that Farak only became addicted in the months before her arrest, and her colleagues stonewalled people who were skeptical of that timeline. A local prosecutor also asked Ballou to look into a case Farak had tested as far back as 2005. Her ar-rest led to the dismissal of thousands of drug cases in Massachusetts. Her medical records included notes from Faraks therapist in Amherst, Anna Kogan. Foster and another assistant attorney general assented to that motion. They were found with their packaging sliced open and their contents apparently altered. It had no surveillance cameras, laughable security on evidence safes, and "laissez faire" management, which the state inspector general determined was the "most glaring factor that led to the Dookhan crisis. Over time, Farak's drug use turned to cocaine, LSD and, eventually, crack. Maybe fatigue made them sloppy, or perhaps they actively chose to look the other way as evidence piled up about the enormity of Farak's crimes. And both pose the obvious question about how chemists could behave so badly for years without detection. She first worked at the Hinton State Laboratory in Jamaica Plain for a year as a bacteriologist working on HIV tests before she transferred to the Amherst Lab for drug analysis. After weeks of hearings, a "special hearing officer" selected by the board recommended potential sanctions against them all. Or she just lied about her results altogether: In one of the more ludicrous cases, she testified under oath that a chunk of cashew was crack cocaine. Democratic Gov. Regarding the cases that she had handled, the Massachusetts courts threw out every case in the Amherst lab during her tenure. They tend to be more freeform notes about the session and your impressions of the client's statements and demeanour. Sonja Farak, a chemist with a longterm mental health struggle, is the catalyst of the story, but it doesn't end with her. Her job consisted of testing drugs that have. Shortly into her role at Amherst, Farak decided to try liquid methamphetamine to ease her personal struggles. B. ut when Penates lawyer tried to obtain the documents not certain what was in them before his clients 2013 trial, he was rebuffed by state prosecutors who said the papers were irrelevant according to emails included in investigative reports unsealed earlier this month. Deborah Becker Twitter Host/ReporterDeborah Becker is a senior correspondent and host at WBUR. Sonja Farak. She had been accused of intentional infliction of emotional distress in addition to the conspiracy to violate [Penates] civil rights.. After serving for 13 months, she was released on parole in 2015. She was trying to suppress mental health issues, depression in specific, and she attempted to kill herself in high school, according to Rolling Stone. As How to Fix a Drug Scandal explores, Farak had long struggled with her mental . ", Officials rushed to downplay the situation in Amherst. Kaczmarek has repeatedly testified she did not act intentionally and that she thought the worksheets had been turned over to the district attorneys who prosecuted the cases involved. | Shawn Musgrave is a reporter who was until recently based in Boston. That motion was denied, and the notice letters will explain Farak's tampering without any mention of prosecutorial misconduct. NORTHAMPTON Sonja J. Farak told a nurse at the Western Massachusetts In court, she added that there was "no smoking gun" in the evidence. And when the tests she did run came back negative, Dookhan added controlled substances to the vials. When the Farak scandal erupted, that misconduct came into view. She played as the starting guard for Portsmouth High Schools freshman team. She was struggling to suppress mental health issues, depression in particular, and she tried to kill herself in high school, according to Rolling Stone. "I dont know how the Velis report reached the conclusion it did after reviewing the underlying email documents, said Randy Gioia, deputy chief counsel at the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the states public defender office. Foster said that Kaczmarek told her all relevant evidence had been turned over and that her supervisor told her to write the letter, though both denied these claims. The staff in the new lab was also doubled, and the number of trainees was also increased. This scandal has thrown thousands of drug cases into question, on top of more than 24,000 cases tainted by a scandal involving ex-chemist Annie Dookhan at the state's Hinton Lab in Jamaica Plain. But a crucial issue was not before the court. A Powerful EHR to Manage a Thriving Practice. Subscribe to Reason Roundup, a wrap up of the last 24 hours of news, delivered fresh each morning. Because the attorney general had "portrayed Farak as a dedicated public servant who was apprehended immediately after crossing the line, there was also no reasonto waste resources engaging in any additional introspection.". Her role was to test for the presence of illegal substances, which could be instrumental in thousands of . This past Tuesday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court filed a report saying that more than 24,000 convictions in 16,449 cases have been dismissed as a result of foul play by a former state drug lab chemist. Farak started at Amherst lab in Aug 2004 p. 32. Each employee had a unique swipe card, but Farak simply used a physical key to get in after hours and on weekends. The cocaine, found in an unsealed, completed drug-testing kit, tested negativemeaning Farak had seemingly replaced the formerly "positive" drugs with falsified substances. But absent evidence of aggravating misconduct by prosecutors or cops, the majority ruled, Dookhan's tampering alone didn't justify a blanket dismissal of every case she had touched. When grand jury materials were eventually released to defense attorneys, then, they did not mention that these documents existed. This very well could have been the end of the investigative trail but for a few stubborn defense lawyers, who appealed the ruling. She stopped the interview when asked about crack pipes found at her bench, and state police towed her car back to barracks while they waited on a warrant. You can try, Suspensions and a reprimand proposed for prosecutors admonished in drug lab scandal. TherapyNotes There is nothing to indicate that the allegations against Farak date back to the time she tested the drugs in Penates case. The state and attorneys for some of the defendants agreed to a $14 million settlement to reimburse 31,000 defendants for post conviction-related costs, such as probation and parole fees, drug analysis and GPS monitoring. State prosecutors hadnt provided this evidence to other district attorneys offices contending with the Farak fallout, either. Penate and other defendants are asking see all of Fosters emails regarding Farak and other materials relating to the handling of evidence in the chemist's case. In the series, it's explained that Farak loved the energy the meth gave her. Farak was a former lab chemist at a lab in Amherst, Massachusetts and was convicted of stealing and using drugs from the lab where she worked. Please note that if your case has been identified for dismissal, it could take approximately 2-3 months for the relevant court records to be updated. Among other items, Kaczmarek They were all rendered unacceptable. Many more are likely to follow, with the total expected to exceed 50,000. Introduction. Poetically, that landmark case originated from the Hinton lab, although Dookhan didn't conduct the analysis in question. How to Fix a Drug Scandal: With Shannon O'Neill, Karl Kenzler, Paul Solotaroff, Scott Allen. Farak trabaj en el laboratorio Amherst desde el verano de 2004 y poco despus comenz a tomar las drogas del laboratorio. Without access to the diaries, the Springfield judge in 2013 found that Farak had starting stealing from samples in summer 2012. It was. Fue arrestada el 19 de enero de 2013. Netflix's latest true-crime series, How to Fix a Drug Scandal, dives deep into a shocking Massachusetts scandal, one that started in the humble confines of an underfunded drug testing lab and ended with an entire system in question. Sonja Farak is in the grip of a rubbed-raw depression that hasn't responded to medication. shipped nearly 300 pages of previously undisclosed materials to local prosecutors around the state. Despite being a star child of the family, Sonja suffered from the mental illnesses that haunted her even in adulthood. Commonwealth v. Cotto | ACLU Massachusetts On a Friday afternoon in January 2013, a call came in to Coakley's office: "We have another Annie Dookhan out west.". She was arrested in 2013 when the supervisor at the Amherst lab was made aware that two samples were missing. The lawsuit names Kaczmarek, Farak and three members of the state police. The lax security and regulations of the place and the negligent supervision of the employees and the stock of standards are the reasons why Farak was encouraged to do what she did. In January 2014, she pleaded guilty to evidence tampering and drug possession. Despite clear indications that Farak used a variety of narcoticsher worksheets mentioned phentermine, and that vial of powdered oxycodone-acetaminophen had been found at her benchKaczmarek also proceeded as if crack cocaine were Farak's sole drug. A status hearing on Penate's suit, which was filed in 2017, is scheduled for July. Two drug lab chemists' shocking crimes cripple a state's judicial system and blur the lines of justice for lawyers, officials and thousands of inmates. Investigators either missed or declined opportunities to dig very deep. After the Supreme Court's decision, a skeptical colleague started tracking how many microscope slides Dookhan used to test samples for cocaine. Heres what you need to know about Sonja Farak: Farak was born on January 13, 1978, in Rhode Island to Stanley and Linda Farak. Defense attorneys say withheld Farak notes implicate prosecutors - News The last contact information provided by her, in response to Penates allegations, placed her residence in Hatfield, Massachusetts.