Chemistry lab scandal could affect thousands of cases

  By DENISE LAVOIEBOSTON -- A chemist accused of lying about drug samples she tested at a state lab could face additional charges as prosecutors and defense attorneys sift through thousands of criminal cases that could be upended by her actions.

Annie Dookhan, 34, of Franklin, was arrested Friday in a burgeoning investigation that has already led to the shutdown of the lab, the resignation of the state's public health commissioner and the release of more than a dozen drug defendants.

Many more defendants are expected to be released. Authorities say more than 1,100 inmates are serving time in cases in which Dookhan was the primary or secondary chemist.

"Annie Dookhan's alleged actions corrupted the integrity of the entire criminal justice system," state Attorney General Martha Coakley said during a news conference after Dookhan's arrest. "There are many victims as a result of this."

Dookhan faces more than 20 years in prison on charges of obstruction of justice and falsely pretending to hold a degree from a college or university. She testified under oath that she holds a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts, but school officials say they have no record of her receiving an advanced degree or taking graduate courses there.

State police say Dookhan tested more than 60,000 drug samples involving 34,000 defendants during her nine years at the Hinton State Laboratory Institute in Boston. Defense lawyers and prosecutors are scrambling to figure out how to deal with the fallout.

Assistant Attorney General John Verner called the charges against Dookhan "preliminary" and said a "much broader" investigation is being conducted.

Verner said state police learned of Dookhan's alleged actions in July after they interviewed a chemist at the lab who said he had observed "many irregularities" in Dookhan's work.

Verner said Dookhan later acknowledged to state police that she sometimes would take 15 to 25 samples and instead of testing them all, she would test only five of them, then list them all as positive. She said that sometimes, if a sample tested negative, she would take known cocaine from another sample and add it to the negative sample to make it test positive for cocaine, Verner said.

Dookhan pleaded not guilty and was later released on $10,000 bail. She was ordered to turn over her passport, submit to GPS monitoring, and not have contact with any former or current employees of the lab.

Dookhan's relatives and attorney declined to comment after the brief hearing in Boston Municipal Court. Her next court date is Dec. 3.

The obstruction charges accuse Dookhan of lying about drug samples she analyzed at the lab in March 2011 for a Suffolk County case, and for testifying under oath in August 2010 that she had an advanced degree from the University of Massachusetts, Attorney General Martha Coakley said at a news conference.

In one of the cases, Boston police had tested a substance as negative for cocaine, but when Dookhan tested it, she reported it as positive. Investigators later retested the cample and it came back negative, Verner said.

The only motive authorities have found so far is that Dookhan wanted to be seen as a good worker, Coakley said.

According to a state police report in August, Dookhan said she just wanted to get the work done and never meant to hurt anyone.

"I screwed up big-time," she is quoted as saying. "I messed up bad; it's my fault. I don't want the lab to get in trouble."

Dookhan's supervisors have faced harsh criticism for not removing her from lab duties after suspicions about her were first raised by her co-workers and for not alerting prosecutors and police. However, Coakley said, there is no indication so far of criminal activity by anyone else at the lab.

Co-workers began expressing concern about Dookhan's work habits several years ago, but her supervisors allowed her to continue working. Dookhan was the most productive chemist in the lab, routinely testing more than 500 samples a month, while others tested 50 to 150.

One co-worker told state police he never saw Dookhan in front of a microscope. A lab employee saw Dookhan weighing drug samples without doing a balance check on her scale.

In an interview with state police late last month, Dookhan acknowledged faking test results for two to three years. She told police she identified some drug samples as narcotics simply by looking at them instead of testing them, a process known as dry labbing. She also said she forged the initials of colleagues and deliberately turned a negative sample into a positive for narcotics a few times.

"I hope the system isn't treating the evidence against her the way she treated the evidence against several thousand defendants," said defense attorney John T. Martin, who has a client who was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea based on concerns over Dookhan's work.

Dookhan was suspended from lab duties after getting caught forging a colleague's initials on paperwork in June 2011. She resigned in March as the Department of Public Health investigated. The lab was run by the department until July 1, when state police took over as part of a state budget directive.

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Study: Splitting chores could lead to divorce

  Eyewitness NewsNORWAY (WABC) -- Household chores could tell you a lot about the state of your marriage and how likely you are to get divorced.

A Norwegian study has found divorce rates are far higher among modern couples who share the housework.

In homes where the woman does the lion's share of the chores, the divorce rate was about 50 percent lower.

CLICK HERE to read the full story from the Daily Telegraph

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Rielle Hunter: 'I Believed I Could Help Him'

Why did Rielle Hunter accept an invitation from John Edwards, a married man, to join him in his hotel room one fateful day in 2006?

"I went there because I believed I could help him," Hunter told "20/20's" Chris Cuomo in an exclusive interview.

Hunter reveals the details of her first meeting with the then-presidential candidate and the six-year affair that became the biggest political sex scandal of a generation in her bombshell tell-all, "What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter, and Me," to be published June 26. Hunter recently sat down with Chris Cuomo for her first interview since Edwards' acquittal on charges of accepting illegal campaign contributions.

In the book, Hunter writes that, as a budding spiritual advisor, she believed she could help him merge his public persona -- which she said appeared shallow and aloof -- with his deeper private persona, so that he could present himself more authentically.

Watch Chris Cuomo's interview with Rielle Hunter tonight on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET.

The story of their love and scandal began with that hotel encounter.

"He rounded the street corner and it came out of my mouth: 'You're so hot,'" Hunter recalled.

Hunter is well aware that others might take her desire to "help" to mean something else.

"From the outside world looking in, (it's) like, 'Boy, did you sure help him,'" she told Cuomo.

Eventually, Hunter said, Edwards persuaded her to come sit with him on the hotel room bed.

"Something happened internally with me. I responded... I have not experienced it or felt what was happening before. Ever. An intensity like a rock concert. A lot of energy," she told Cuomo.

PHOTOS: Rielle Hunter, John Edwards and Their Daughter

That energy was strong enough that the man who would soon be a candidate for president of the United States risked it all to be with her.

"We could not get enough of each other on the telephone," Hunter said. "If we were not together, we would be talking on the phone about four hours every night. We couldn't hang up."

Any doubts she had about sleeping with a married man were helped, she said, by his insistence that his storybook marriage with Elizabeth Edwards was just that -- a story.

"Their marriage was ruined before I got there. Years before I got there," Hunter said. She said Edwards told her he had had other mistresses -- that she was not the first.

To the public, meanwhile, Edwards presented an entirely different appearance.

"I was disgusted with myself for being in love with a man who was going on national TV with his wife -- and lying," Hunter said.

While Edwards was hot on the campaign trail, Hunter discovered that she was pregnant. Hunter said Edwards had a "gracious" reaction when she told him the news, saying he would support her and that he wouldn't tell her what to do.

"I think he thought the timing was terrible," she said, but Edwards was "kinder and more gentle than I thought he would be."

Hunter called the February 2008 birth of their daughter Quinn, now 4, "difficult and incredible."

"It's like the polar opposites of the pain and agony and oh my God, how difficult it is. But the blessing that comes out of that (is) amazing," she said.

But amid her amazement, Hunter was also devastated by Edwards' initial denial that he was Quinn's father. In an interview with ABC News' Bob Woodruff on Nightline in August 2008, he insisted that he was not Quinn's father. Still, Hunter said she understands why Edwards lied.

"What it meant, though, to me, is that he was temporarily insane. I mean, he had really gone off the deep end a bit there," she said, "but it was painful to witness."

Hunter said at one point she was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement requiring her to keep the identity of Quinn's father secret from everyone except Quinn. She refused.

"I didn't want my daughter growing up under a lie," she said.

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Syracuse's Boeheim could speak on scandal Tuesday

  By JOHN KEKISSYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim could speak out about the sex abuse allegations surrounding his former assistant coach after a home game scheduled for Tuesday night.

Boeheim ran a closed practice Monday as sex abuse victims' advocates questioned whether he should still coach following the firing of Bernie Fine, who has been accused of molestation by three men.

As criticism swirled about Boeheim's initial support of Fine and his verbal attacks on the accusers, the coach kept a low profile, seeking refuge in his office on the second floor of the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center.

Boeheim, who had been sharply critical of the accusers, has softened his stance 10 days after an impassioned defense of Fine, who spent 35 seasons on the bench next to Boeheim and was fired Sunday.

The Rev. Robert Hoatson, president of Road to Recovery, a group that supports victims of sexual abuse, said the dismissal of Bernie Fine was appropriate but didn't go far enough.

"I think Jim Boeheim should be fired or resign as well," Hoatson said Monday. "These boys were members of the basketball program. Jim Boeheim's responsibility is to oversee that program, and the children were not safe on his watch."

Two former Syracuse ball boys were the first to accuse Fine, who has called the allegations "patently false." And a third man came forward last week, accusing Fine of molesting him nine years ago.

Bobby Davis, now 39, told ESPN that Fine molested him beginning in 1984 and that the sexual contact continued until he was around 27. A ball boy for six years, Davis told ESPN that the abuse occurred at Fine's home, at Syracuse basketball facilities and on team road trips, including the 1987 Final Four. His stepbrother, Mike Lang, 45, who also was a ball boy, told ESPN that Fine began molesting him while he was in fifth or sixth grade.

Zach Tomaselli, 23, of Lewiston, Maine, said Sunday he told police that Fine molested him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room.

Tomaselli, who faces sexual assault charges in Maine involving a 14-year-old boy, said Fine touched him "multiple" times in that one incident. During a telephone interview with The Associated Press, he said he signed an affidavit accusing Fine following a meeting with Syracuse police last week in Albany.

As supporters of victims of sex abuse called for Boeheim to be fired, university trustees were largely silent.

"I don't have anything to say about this," said trustee H. Douglas Barclay, who earned his law degree from Syracuse in 1961 and was a New York state senator for 20 years.

Reached in Naples, Fla., trustee Marvin Lender, class of 1963, referred all calls to Chancellor Nancy Cantor.

"It's a policy, and I want to adhere to it," he said.

The allegations against Fine surfaced a week after Penn State school trustees fired Joe Paterno in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who is accused in a grand jury indictment of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period.

Amid that child sex-abuse scandal, Penn State's trustees ousted Paterno and university President Graham Spanier. The trustees said Spanier and Paterno, who is not the target of any criminal investigation, failed to act after a graduate assistant claimed he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in a campus shower in 2002. And two school administrators were charged with not properly alerting authorities to suspected abuse and with perjury. They maintain their innocence.

When the allegations against Fine first became public Nov. 17, Boeheim adamantly defended his longtime assistant and attacked the accusers, saying he suspected they were trying get money.

"It is a bunch of a thousand lies that he has told," Boeheim told ESPN, referring to Bobby Davis. "You don't think it is a little funny that his cousin (relative) is coming forward?"

Those comments prompted a swift backlash from victims' advocates, who were outraged by Boeheim's attitude.

Ten days later, his stance had changed considerably.

In a statement released Sunday night after Fine's firing, Boeheim expressed regret for his initial statements that might have been "insensitive to victims of abuse."

"What is most important is that this matter be fully investigated and that anyone with information be supported to come forward so that the truth can be found," Boeheim said in a statement released by the school. "I deeply regret any statements I made that might have inhibited that from occurring or been insensitive to victims of abuse."

That apology did not appease all his critics.

Richard Tollner, a member of the New York Coalition to Protect Children, said even if the investigation finds Boeheim didn't know anything before, during or after any abuses occurred, he should at least offer to quit. Tollner and other victims' advocates have been sharply critical of comments Boeheim made when the scandal broke in which he said the accusers were lying to get money.

"We think he should offer his resignation to the Syracuse University Board and the let the board decide with a vote of confidence whether he should continue on or not," said Tollner.

"Mr. Boeheim has a responsibility," Tollner said. "He's a leader. Kids follow what Jim Boeheim says these days. In that light, he should have been more responsible in his remarks."

New York state Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, a Queens Democrat who has passed legislation increasing the age from 23 to 28 to bring a claim of sexual abuse, said if an investigation shows Boeheim was aware of the allegations against Fine and did nothing, he should be removed.

"But if he wasn't aware of it, and there was no way of him knowing about it, that's a different set of circumstances," Markey said.

On Sunday, ESPN also played an audiotape, obtained and recorded by Davis, of an October 2002 telephone conversation between him and Fine's wife, Laurie.

Davis told ESPN he made the recording, which also has been given to Syracuse police, without her knowledge because he knew he needed proof for the police to believe his accusations. ESPN said it hired a voice recognition expert to verify the voice on the tape and the network said it was determined to be that of Laurie Fine.

During the call to the woman, Davis repeatedly asks her what she knew about the alleged molestation.

"Do you think I'm the only one that he's ever done that to?" Davis asked.

"No ... I think there might have been others but it was geared to ... there was something about you," the woman on the tape said.

On the tape, she also says she knew "everything that went on."

"Bernie has issues, maybe that he's not aware of, but he has issues. ... And you trusted somebody you shouldn't have trusted ...

" Federal authorities investigating Fine are not hampered by a statute of limitations should they turn up evidence Fine molested Tomaselli in Pittsburgh.

Under federal law passed in 2002, prosecutions for the sexual or physical abuse or kidnapping of a child under 18 can continue until the victim turned 25. Subsequent amendments changed that to the life of the child or 10 years after the offense, whichever is longer.

On Sunday, Tomaselli's father said he was lying.

In a phone interview with the AP, Fred Tomaselli said: "I'm 100 percent sure that Bernie Fine was never in contact with Zach. He never went to Pittsburgh to a game, never been to that arena."

Zach Tomaselli's friend, Rose Ryan of Lewiston, Maine, defended him Monday against his father's claim that he made up the story about being molested by Fine.

"He's not lying," said Ryan, who said Tomaselli provided detailed descriptions to police of the Pittsburgh hotel and of the interior of Fine's home.

Ryan, who's 31, said Tomaselli worked as a camp counselor and a baseball umpire but is currently unemployed and having difficulty finding work because of sex charges pending against him in Maine.

Tomaselli was arrested in April on 11 warrants charging gross sexual assault, tampering with a victim, two counts of unlawful sexual contact, five counts of visual sexual aggression against a child and unlawful sexual touching and unlawful sexual contact, Lewiston police said. They did not say what led to the charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

John Duncan, executive assistant U.S. attorney in Syracuse, said a search warrant was executed Friday by the U.S. Secret Service at Fine's residence. He declined to say Monday what was sought or found, saying it remains under seal. "His home was searched," he said.

U.S. Secret Service agent Tim Kirk in Syracuse declined to comment and referred questions to Duncan.

Lee Kindlon, a criminal defense attorney who practices in state and federal courts in upstate New York, said while the statute of limitations won't bar federal prosecutors at this point, they have other issues including the credibility of the accuser and lack of physical proof.

"But these allegations are serious and I think the feds are doing the right thing and looking for proof to back up the accusations," he said.

Also Monday, the Syracuse Police Department said it will provide details of its investigation to the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office on Tuesday, heading off a court appearance that was scheduled for Tuesday morning. DA William Fitzpatrick had complained that the police were not sharing details and accused the police chief and others of leaking information to the media, a claim the police denied.

A two-paragraph statement from the city police noted that the case had entered a "new phase" with the U.S. Attorney and Secret Service taking the lead.

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AP Writers Mike Virtanen, Mary Esch and Rik Stevens in Albany, Ben Dobbin in Rochester and David Sharp in Portland, Maine contributed to this report.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Sports »

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A-Rod has slight tear in knee, could miss a month

  By BEN WALKERNEW YORK -- Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has a slight tear in his right knee, a probable cause of his sudden power loss, and the 14-time All-Star was expected to soon decide on the best course of action.

New York manager Joe Girardi revealed the injury before Saturday's game against Tampa Bay and said Rodriguez was out of the lineup. An MRI exam Friday showed a slight tear in the cartilage, and left A-Rod with two options: He could try to play through it, or have surgery and miss perhaps a month.

Girardi said he expected a decision would be announced Sunday. Rodriguez, who turns 36 later this month, has already pulled out of next week's All-Star game.

The three-time AL MVP is hitting .295 with 13 home runs and 52 RBIs this season. But the slugger with 626 career home runs has not connected since June 11 and has gone 85 at-bats without a homer, his longest single-season drought.

"I just don't think he has the drive in his back side that he needs to have," Girardi said. "He's not driving the ball."

Rodriguez tweaked his knee at Wrigley Field on June 19, and the tear in his meniscus has slowed him on the bases. He is batting .359 with 10 RBIs in his last 16 games, but has looked much more like a singles hitter than a power hitter.

"I think he's just fought through it," Girardi said.

A week ago at Citi Field, Rodriguez hit a high drive off the center-field wall against the Mets. As he walked out of the clubhouse after the game, he said, "I have no pop."

Girardi said it wasn't certain that Rodriguez would make the injury worse if he continues to play through it.

"You're not going to have him at 100 percent," said Girardi, who added, "I don't want to influence his decision."

Eduardo Nunez, who provided a spark while filling in recently for injured shortstop Derek Jeter, would likely take Rodriguez's place at third if he opts for surgery.

Rodriguez was elected by fans to start for the AL in the All-Star game Tuesday in Phoenix. Boston's Kevin Youkilis has replaced him on the roster.

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INTERACTION: Could you forgive infidelity?

Welcome to the Eyewitness News Interaction blog. When there's a topic worth discussing, this blog is the place to start. Click on COMMENT under the post to write your opinion on the topic. Be sure to include your name and location. We'll review it, and we may publish it here or use it on Eyewitness News on WABC-TV Channel 7 in New York!

Arnold Schwarzenegger, recently separated his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, has admitted that he fathered a child more than 10 years ago with a member of his household staff. Could you ever forgive something like that? How much does the length of the marriage or relationship affect your decision?

A blood test that will be made available in Britain later this year claims to show how fast someone is aging and may be able to estimate how long they have left to live.

If you had the access to this test, would you want to look inside your biological crystal ball?   Tell us what you think by clicking on comment below.  We may publish your comment here and/or use it on Eyewitness News.

NYC officials introduced legislation that require minors to be a certain number of feet away when library patrons view porn.  NYC library officials do not ban the viewing of porn citing the First Amendment.  Eyewitness News wants to know what you think.  Post your comments (below) and they could appear on Eyewitness News.

An eight-year-old girl from San Francisco is getting Botox treatments from her mother to prevent lines on her face.  Eyewitness News wants to know what you think.  Post your comments (below) and they could end up on Eyewitness News.  Tune in tonight for complete coverage on this story.

Officials on Long Island will ask voters this summer to approve a $400 million plan to build a
new hockey arena next to the current home of the New York Islanders.  Eyewitness News wants to know what you think.  Is the new arena a good idea?  Will they be able to sell tickets?  Post your comments (below) and they could appear on Eyewitness News.

A Connecticut teenager who taped a carboard message to the front of his school asking a girl to go to prom with him has been barred from attending.  Do you think that is fair?  Share your thoughts with us by clicking COMMENT below!  Your comments may appear on Eyewitness News.

 

Shelton High School senior James Tate and two friends posted 12-inch tall cardboard letters outside the school's main entrance, where everyone would see them going in last Friday morning.
     

The message said: "Sonali Rodrigues, Will you go to the prom with me? HMU -Tate." HMU means hit me up, or call me.  Rodrigues said yes. But Tate and his two friends have been given one-day in-house suspensions by the headmaster and barred from the prom.

A national emergency alert system that will send messages to cell phones during disasters is set to launch in New York City and Washington by the end of year.  Eyewitness News wants to know what you think.  Is this a good idea?  Post your comments (below) and they could appear on Eyewitness News.

Happy Mother's Day from Eyewitness News!  Do you have a message for mom?  Share it here!  It's easy, just click COMMENT at the bottom of the page.  Your message to mom may appear on Eyewitness News!

 

Do you think the White House should release the pictures of Osama bin Laden's dead body to the public?  Why or why not?  Share your thoughts with us here by clicking on COMMENT below.  Your comments may appear on Eyewitness News!

 
Click the photo above to read the latest on the death of bin Laden from Eyewitness News.

Mother's Day is this Sunday, May 8, and lots of people are searching for gift ideas.  Eyewitness News is inviting you to share your tips here! What are the best Mother's Day gifts you've given and/or received?  Click on comment to offer your ideas, and we may post it here or use it on Eyewitness News!

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