Coworker of 'Rogue Chemist' in JP Drug Lab Scandal Testifies

A coworker of the chemist accused of mishandling evidence in ways that could set hundreds of convicted drug dealers loose on Boston streets gave a glimpse into the work life of the now-shuttered JP State Drug Lab.

Daniella Frasca, who worked alongside disgraced lab worker Annie Dookhan for eight years, testified in a drug trial Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

Frasca told State Police she never saw Dookhan do anything wrong, Patch news partner 7News reports.

But under close questioning from a defense attorney, she did say Dookhan had the access both to codes to disarm the lab's alarm system as well as a computer in the evidence room.

On Friday, the drug defendant, Shawn Drumgold, was found not guilty, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. Drumgold is a controversial figure in that he was convicted of the shocking 1988 murder of a 12-year-old girl on a Roxbury playground, then set free after witnesses changed their stories.

Prosecutors say that in the just-finished drug trial, the judge's "not guilty" ruling was not based on whether Dookhan handled samples in his case. Drumgold's attorney had argued that initials on lab records might have indicated she had tested the samples.

Dookhan is accused of tainting tens of thousands of drug samples at the now-shuttered Department of Public Health Drug Lab on South Street in JP.

For all of Jamaica Plain Patch's coverage of the JP Drug Lab Scandal, please visit our topic page on the issue.