"It was almost like Dookhan wanted to get caught," one of her former co-workers told state police in 2012. She said, It was about coping; it certainly wasnt about having fun; I dont think shes had fun in quite a while.. She was sentenced in 2014 to 18 months in prison and 5 years of probation. 3.4.2023 8:00 AM, Reason Staff The worksheets, essentially counseling notes, showed that Farak had been using drugs often on the job for much longer than the attorney general's office had claimed. Foster Where Is Sonja Farak Now? Penate alleged Kaczmarek's actions violated his "Brady rights," which require prosecutors to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to defense counsel. With your support, GBH will continue to innovate, inspire and connect through reporting you value that meets todays moments. Each employee had a unique swipe card, but Farak simply used a physical key to get in after hours and on weekends. This might not have mattered as much if the investigators had followed the evidence that Farak had been using drugs for at least a year and almost certainly longer. PDF United States Court of Appeals Massachusetts prosecutors withheld evidence of corrupt state narcotics testing for months from a defendant facing drug charges, and didnt release it until after his conviction, according to newly surfaced documents and emails. The Netflix docuseries ends by acknowledging that Farak received an 18-month sentence, and that defense attorney Luke Ryan was able . 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. This very well could have been the end of the investigative trail but for a few stubborn defense lawyers, who appealed the ruling. 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. The Amherst lab had called state police when the two missing samples were noticed in 2013. After graduating from Portsmouth High School, Farak attended the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she got a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry in 2000. Instead, Coakley's office served as gatekeeper to evidence that could have untangled the scandal and freed thousands of people from prison and jail years earlier, or at least wiped their improper convictions off the books. Judge Kinder ordered her to produce all potentially privileged documents for his review to determine whether they could be disclosed. Introduction. A local prosecutor also asked Ballou to look into a case Farak had tested as far back as 2005. Netflix's How to Fix a Drug Scandal: What Happened To Sonja Farak As federal food benefits decline, Mass. On the surface, their crimes dont seem as injurious and they dont seem to enjoy inflicting pain on others. 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. Two detectives found Farak at a courthouse waiting to testify on an unrelated matter. Together, we can create a more connected and informed world. More than 24,000 convictions in 16,449 cases tainted by former state chemist Sonja Farak have been dismissed in a court case brought by the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Committee of Public Counsel Services (CPCS), and law firm Fick & Marx LLP. The report From the April 2023 issue, Billy Binion State prosecutors hadnt provided this evidence to other district attorneys offices contending with the Farak fallout, either. Robertson rejected Kaczmarek's claims she should not be held responsible for the turning over of exculpatory evidence because she was not part of the "prosecution team" in Penate's case. Gioia called for evidentiary hearings so prosecutors can be asked about what they knew, when they knew it, and what they did with their knowledge., Luke Ryan, Penates trial lawyer, said that the state police officers working on the report failed to obtain an appropriate understanding of the events that transpired before they were assigned to this investigation.". Hearings could help decide how many of thousands of convictions tainted by Farak's testing may be overturned. The new numbers appear in a report issued by a court-designated "Special Master." She received the American Institute of Chemists Award in her final year as well as a Crimson and Gray Award from the school a year before, which recognized her dedication, commitment and unselfishness in the enrichment of student life at WPI. A Rolling Stone piece on Farak also indicated that she graduated with high distinction from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Sonja Farak: 35,000 criminal cases were dismissed because this - MEAWW A Powerful EHR to Manage a Thriving Practice. Get all the latest from Sanditon on GBH Passport, How one Brookline studio helps artists with disabilities thrive. She later called this dismissive exchange a "plea to God.". Officials recognized the worksheets for what they were: near-indisputable confessions. "First, of course, are the defendants, who when charged in the criminal justice system have the right to expect that they will be given due process and there will be fair and accurate information used in any prosecution against them." A Compelling New Take on a Massachusetts Lab Scandal Tainting Thousands And then the bigger investigation was going to be someone else.". When grand jury materials were eventually released to defense attorneys, then, they did not mention that these documents existed. 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. How to Fix a Drug Scandal: With Shannon O'Neill, Karl Kenzler, Paul Solotaroff, Scott Allen. Such strong claims were too hasty at best, since investigators had not yet finished basic searches; three days later, police executed a warrant for a duffel bag they found stuffed behind Farak's desk. Sonja Farak, a state forensic chemist in western Massachusetts, was minutes away from testifying in a drug case in early 2013 when attorneys learned she was about to be arrested on charges of. Shawn Musgrave "That was one of the lines I had thought I would never cross: I wouldn't tamper with evidence, I wouldn't smoke crack, and then I wouldn't touch other people's work," Farak said. But whether anyone investigated her conduct during a brief stint working at the state's Boston drug lab is at . According to a Rolling Stone piece on Farak, she struggled with depression from an early age, one that hasnt responded to medication. They wrote that Farak attempted suicide in high school and was also hospitalized while in college. One colleague called her the "super woman of the lab. memo to Judge Kinder the next week, Foster said she reviewed the file, and said every document in it had already been disclosed. "I remember actually sitting on the stand and looking at it," Farak said of her first time swiping from evidence in a trafficking case, "knowing that I had analyzed the sample and that I had then tampered with it.". Sonja Farak pleaded guilty to stealing samples of drugs from an Amherst drug lab. At least 11,000 cases have already been dismissed due to fallout from the scandal, with thousands more likely to come. On another worksheet chronicling her struggle not to use, she described 12 of the next 13 samples assigned to her for testing as "urge-ful.". Sonja Farak, a chemist with a longterm mental health struggle, is the catalyst of the story, but it doesn't end with her. Its no big deal, 14-year-old Farak said to the Panama City News Herald. Prosecutors have an obligation to give the defense exculpatory evidence including anything that could weaken evidence against defendants. Many more are likely to follow, with the total expected to exceed 50,000. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. Since her release, she has kept a low profile and managed to stay out of the public . The story of the intertwining Farak and Penate evidence began in January 2013, when state police arrested Farak and searched her car. State officials rushed to condemn her loudly and publicly. The four years since Ryan discovered Farak's diaries have been a bitter fight over this question of culpabilitywhether Kaczmarek, Foster, and their colleagues were merely careless or whether they deliberately hid crucial evidence. Kaczmarek got a note from Sgt. After high school, Sonja went on to major in biochemistry at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in western Massachusetts. He emailed them to Kaczmareksubject: "FARAK Admissions." (Netflix) A former state chemist, Sonja Farak, made headlines in 2013 when she was arrested for stealing and using drugs from a laboratory. The justices ordered Healey's department to cover all costs of notifying all defendants whose cases were dismissed. Farak signed a certification of drug samples in Penate's case on Dec. 22, 2011. Joseph Ballou, lead investigator for the state police, called them the most important documents from the car. State police took these worksheets from Farak's car in January 2013, the same day they arrested her for tampering with evidence and for cocaine possession. 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.". Instead, Kaczmarek proceeded as if the substance abuse was a recent development. While Dookhan had tampered with evidence and indulged in dry-labbing, Farak stole from her workplace. Kaczmarek is one of three former prosecutors whose role in the prosecution of Farak later became the focus of several lawsuits and disciplinary hearings. food banks expect a surge, As streaming services boom, cable TV continues its decline. Relying on an investigation conducted by state police, the judges Though. And both pose the obvious question about how chemists could behave so badly for years without detection. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at GBH, Transparency in Coverage Cost-Sharing Disclosures. She's no longer in prison, as Farak has served her sentence. "It would be difficult to overstate the significance of these documents," Ryan wrote to the attorney general's office. For people with disabilities needing assistance with the Public Files, contact Glenn Heath at 617-300-3268. Democratic Gov. And when the tests she did run came back negative, Dookhan added controlled substances to the vials. Penate's lawsuit, which seeks $5.7 million in damages, is believed to be one of the last remaining suits tied to the scandals; the statute of limitations to file such suits has expired. Among other items, Kaczmarek Farak worked under the influence of drugs for nine years - from 2004 to 2013 - before she was caught. He didn't buy her quibbling that there's a difference between an explicit lie and obfuscation by grammar. Even though Farak found a job after graduation and was settled down with her partner, she continued to struggle with depression and felt like a stranger in her body. 2. Despite her status as a free woman (who has seemingly disappeared from the public eye), Farak's wrongdoings continue to make waves in the Massachusetts courts. Drug lab cases information | Mass.gov Faraks wife had her own mental health problems, and according to Rolling Stone, Farak would have conflict with her wife every night at home. The premise revolves around documentary filmmaker Erin Lee Carr following the effects of crime drug lab chemists Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan and their tampering with evidence and its aftereffects.. Dookhan was accused of forging reports and tampering with samples to . . It was an astoundingly light touch for the second state chemist arrested in six months. Meanwhile, other top prosecutors, including Coakley, largely escaped criticism for their collective failure to hand over evidence that they were bound by constitutional mandate to share with defendants. It contained substances often used to make counterfeit cocaine, including soap, baking soda, candle wax, and modeling clay, plus lab dishes, wax paper, and fragments of a crack pipe. The special hearing officer found Kaczmarek "displayed no remorse" and was "not candid" during the disciplinary proceedings. "As the gatekeeper to this evidence, she failed to turn over documents, and she adamantly opposed the requests for access. According to her teammates, She was the best center in the league last year, and they [felt] stronger with her in there than with some guys.. 1. "I suspect that if another entity was in the mix"perhaps the inspector general or an independent investigator"the Attorney General's Office would have treated the Farak case much more seriously and would have been much more reluctant to hide the ball," Ryan writes in an email. | Foster and another assistant attorney general assented to that motion. 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. This is merely a fishing expedition, Foster wrote in The Chemists and the Cover-Up - Reason.com Lost in the high drama of determining which individual prosecutors hid evidence was a more basic question: In scandals like these, why are decisions about evidence left to prosecutors at all? 3.3.2023 4:50 PM, 2022 Reason Foundation | 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. The Dookhan prosecution was barely underway, a grand jury having returned indictments a few weeks earlier. Patrick said "the most important take-home" was that "no individual's due process rights were compromised.". Foster, now general counsel at the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, and Kaczmarek, now a clerk magistrate in Suffolk Superior Court, declined to comment for this story. In 2014, former Amherst drug lab chemist Sonja Farak was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison after it was discovered that she stole and used drugs that she was entrusted to test. She started seeing a substance abuse therapist around this time. What Did Sonja Farak Do, Exactly? Because of all that, it's no surprise that Farak was sent to prison in Massachusetts. This is the story of Farak's drug-induced wrongdoings, and it's the story of the Massachusetts Attorney General's office apparently turning a blind eye on those wrongfully convicted because of Farak's mistakes. NORTHAMPTON Sonja J. Farak told a nurse at the Western Massachusetts The Farak documents indicate she used drugs on the very day she certified samples as heroin in Penates case. Poetically, that landmark case originated from the Hinton lab, although Dookhan didn't conduct the analysis in question. Shortly into her role at Amherst, Farak decided to try liquid methamphetamine to ease her personal struggles. So, in a way, it is not from her that the queue of the blame should begin; it should be from the lab and the authorities themselves. "Annie Dookhan's alleged actions corrupted the integrity of the criminal justice system, and there are many victims as a result of this," Coakley said at a press conference. Sonja Farak is in the grip of a rubbed-raw depression that hasn't responded to medication. Who is Sonja Farak, the former state drug lab chemist featured in the show? Farak signed Before her sentencing, Farak failed a drug test while out on bail, according to Mass Live. When defense lawyers asked to see evidence for themselves, state prosecutors smeared them as pursuing a "fishing expedition.". With the lab's ample drug supply, she was able to sneak the drug each day from a jug that resided in the shared workspace. Our streamlined software is accessible wherever and whenever you . NORTHAMPTON Sonja J. Farak told a nurse at the Western Massachusetts Where is Sonja now? The lead prosecutor on Farak's case knew about the diaries, as did supervisors at the state attorney general's office. Chemist Sonja Farak pleaded guilty to "tampering with evidence" back in 2014 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Judge Kinder denied Ryans motion. Emma Camp This not only led to people getting a reprieve from prison but also filing their own lawsuits against the injustice they had to suffer. Carr weaves Farak's story into that of another Massachusetts chemist, Annie Dookhan, who worked across the state at the Hinton drug lab in Boston. This is the story of Farak's drug-induced wrongdoings, and it's the. But Ryan, who represented Penate, suspected it was more extensive. Another three days later, state police conducted a full search of Farak's workstation, finding a vial of powder that tested positive for oxycodone, plus 11.7 grams of cocaine in a desk drawer. It's been like this forever, or at least since girlhood. Still, the state was acquiring evidence. Netflix's How to Fix a Drug Scandal: A staggering true story of - Vox The place was closed as soon as Faraks crimes came to light. Process Notes/Psychotherapy Notes Process notes are sometimes also referred to as psychotherapy notesthey're the notes you take during or after a session. NORTHAMPTON Sonja J. Farak told a nurse at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center in Chicopee in December 2013 that she used methamphetamines and other stimulants "whenever she could get her hands on them." And since her job as a chemist was to test drug samples at a state drug lab in Amherst, that opportunity came daily. | Foster's first stepper ethical obligations and office protocolshould have been to look through the evidence to see what had already been handed over. She grew up in Portsmouth with her sister Amy. Massachusetts crime lab scandal worsens: Dookhan and Farak. Netflixs How to Fix a Drug Scandal tells the story of two women whose actions brought to light the negligence of the system that is supposed to deliver justice to everyone. In a letter filed with the Supreme Court, Julianne Nassif, a lab supervisor, wrote that Hinton had "appropriate quality control" measures. She started smoking crack cocaine in 2011 and was soon using it 10 to 12 times a day. 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. Did Falsified Drug Tests Lead to Wrongful Convictions? - Rolling Stone Her access to evidence was not restricted, and she continued testifying in court. The governor also tapped a local attorney, David Meier, to count how many individuals' cases might be tainted. In her June 17 ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson dismissed former Assistant Attorney General Anne Kaczmarek's claims of qualified immunity a doctrine that gives legal immunity to some public officials accused of misconduct. YouTube The fact that she ran analyses while high and regularly dipped into samples casts doubt on thousands of convictions. Subscribe to Reason Roundup, a wrap up of the last 24 hours of news, delivered fresh each morning. She was ar-rested for tampering with evidence while abusing narcotics at work. In fall 2013, a Springfield, Massachusetts, judge convened hearings with the explicit aim of establishing "the timing and scope" of Farak's "alleged criminal conduct.". Sonja Farak: Defendant Rafael Rodriguez died of drug overdose - MEAWW Thus, only defendants whose evidence she tested in the six-month window before her arrest could challenge their cases. Sonja Farak: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com "These drugswere tested fairly," Coakley claimed the day after Farak's arrest. Her job consisted of testing drugs that have. That motion was denied, and the notice letters will explain Farak's tampering without any mention of prosecutorial misconduct. That settlement awaits approval by a judge. concluded there was no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct or obstruction of justice in matters related to the Farak case. 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. Farak received a sentence of 18 months in jail and 5 years of probation. After serving just a year of her 18 month sentence, Farak was released from prison in 2015. After her arrest, she received support from her parents, who showed up to her court appearances, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reported. But the Farak scandal is in many ways worse, since the chemist's crimes were compounded by drug abuse on the job and prosecutorial misconduct that the state's top court called "the deceptive withholding of exculpatory evidence by members of the Attorney General's office.". "No reasonablejury could conclude that this evidence is not favorable.". shipped nearly 300 pages of previously undisclosed materials to local prosecutors around the state. MA: A reckoning for prosecutors in drug lab scandal? - NADDI She had unrestricted access to the evidence room. May 2003 started working in Hinton drug lab p. 14. Sonja Farak. How to Fix A Drug Scandal takes a one-woman issue in a crumbling police drug lab and follows the way it blew up an entire legal system. When a Therapy Session starts, the software automatically creates a To-Do list item reminding users to create the relevant documentation. Kaczmarek also oversaw the prosecution for the attorney general's office in that case. He also Farak admitted in testimony that she began using drugs almost as soon as she started working at the Massachusetts State Crime Lab in Amherst. How to write better therapy progress notes: 10 examples ", 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. "It was Defendant who had the responsibility within the AGO [attorney general's office] to see that the Farak investigation materials were disseminated to the DAOs [district attorneys' offices]," Robertson wrote, adding there is no evidence anyone from the attorney general's office sent the potentially exculpatory evidence to those offices.". This article originally appeared in print under the headline "The Chemists and the Cover-Up". Her notes record on-the-job drug use ranging from small nips of the lab's baseline. Discipline recommended for former assistant attorneys - Masslive His email was one of more than 800 released with the Velis-Merrigan report. A. Chemist was high at work for 8 years: court docs - CBS News Sonja Farak worked as a chemist for the state of Massachusetts, specializing in identifying illegal substances. Despite such unequivocal findings of misconduct, the court removed language about Kaczmarek and Foster from notification letters to those whose cases have been dismissed, which will be sent out in early 2019. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters, Sonja Farak is the subject of Netflix's "How To Fix a Drug Scandal. 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. 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. She married Lee after starting her job, but their marriage was rocky. Who Is Sonja Farak From Netflix's 'How to Fix a Drug Scandal'? | True Who Is Sonja Farak From Netflix Docu-Series How To Fix A Drug Scandal "The mental health worksheets constituted admissions by the state lab chemist assigned to analyze the samples seized in Plaintiffs case that she was stealing and using lab samples to feed a drug addiction at the time she was testing and certifying the samples in Plaintiffs case, including, in one instance, on the very day that she certified a sample," Robertson's ruling reads. It was. It's not as bad as Dookhan, they asserted and implied over and over. Sonja Farak now: what happened to the chemist featured in How to Fix a At some point, the attorney general's office stopped chasing leads entirely. Who Are Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan? How to Fix a Drug Scandal True Story After weeks of hearings, a "special hearing officer" selected by the board recommended potential sanctions against them all. Why did she do that and where has it left her? A hearing on their motions is scheduled next month. Even before her arrest, the Department of Public Health had launched an internal inquiry into how such misconduct had gone undetected for such a long time. email highlighted in the Velis-Merrigan report. She was released in 2015, as reported by Mass Live. To multiple courts' amazement, her incessant drug use never caught the attention of her co-workers. Kaczmarek, along with former assistant attorneys general Kris Foster and John Verner, all face possible sanctions. noted the mental health worksheets found in Faraks car, which had not been released. ", Prosecutors nationwide pretty uniformly backed this argument, which the Supreme Court rejected in a 54 opinion. In 2019, the chemist was spotted at federal court in Springfield, MA , attending a civil case. Kaczmarek argued the findings are subject to appeal. denied Penates motion to dismiss the case, saying there was no evidence that Faraks misconduct extended to his case.