Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Three prominent legal groups say Attorney General Martha Coakley must hand over her investigation of the JP State Drug Lab scandal to an independent body.
Can the state's top law enforcement official be trusted to carry out the probe into what went wrong at the State Drug Lab in JP? Several legal and civil liberties groups said "No" on Wednesday. The Massachusetts Bar Association, American Civil Liberties Union and Committee for Public Counsel Services sent a letter calling on Attorney General Martha Coakley to hand the investigation to an independent body. "As unimpeachable as the Office of Attorney General is," read the letter, "an institution that prosecutes drug cases, supports the State Police unit that investigates drug cases and also supports drug cases by District Attorneys will be perceived as having a stake in the investigation's outcome." Brad Puffer, a spokesperson for the …
Friday, September 28, 2012
It still isn't clear what drove a JP State Drug Lab chemist allegedly to taint evidence in thousands of cases. But the attorney general says two common reasons don't appear to apply: a drug habit or money trouble.
What could possibly drive a chemist responsible for analyzing drugs seized in criminal cases to taint the evidence thousands of times? It's one of the big unanswered questions in the sprawling scandal that officials say stems from the actions of one JP State Drug Lab chemist — Annie Dookhan. Dookhan was arrested Friday at her Franklin home on two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of falsely pretending to hold a college degree. She was scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m. Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose office has been investigating the scandal, spoke to the press from her Boston office. She said that, so far, no clear motive has emerged for Dookhan tampering with the evidence in as many as 34,000 cases. But Coakley did …
42.3003
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305 South St, Jamaica Plain, MA
State labs
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Prosecutors say Marie Romelus, 48, struck an elderly person in her care at the Armenian Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica Plain.
[Editor's note: The following is a press release from the Attorney General's Office.] A former Certified Nursing Assistant at the Armenian Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica Plain was arraigned today in connection with the alleged assault of a 70-year-old disabled resident at the facility, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced today. Marie Romelus, 48, of Hyde Park, is charged with assault and battery on an elderly person. She was arraigned in the West Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court. In June 2012, the AG’s Office began an investigation after the matter was referred by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Authorities allege that in May 2012, Romelus physically assaulted the victim when she …
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Armenian Nursing & Rehab Center
431 Pond St, Jamaica Plain, MA
/articles/nursing-assistant-pleads-not-guilty-to-charges-of-elder-abuse-at-jamaica-plain-nursing-home
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Tuesday, June 26, 2012
A new law would require lenders to enter into government-run mediation before foreclosing on a property.
In the face of a skyrocketing foreclosure rate across the state, lawmakers are trying to make it harder for banks to take back houses. A high-profile example of a foreclosure eviction took place recently in JP, as longtime neighborhood resident Heather Gordon was finally kicked out of her 3 Mendell Way home. State Rep. Elizabeth Malia (D-Jamaica Plain), was arrested June 15 while protesting Gordon's eviction. The Senate passed a bill filed by Attorney General Martha Coakley, and passed in a different version by the House in May, that would force lenders to enter into a state-controlled mediation process that could include loan restructuring before foreclosing on a homeowner. The Senate version of the bill will now go back to the House for …
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3 Mendell Way, Jamaica Plain, MA
/articles/jamaica-plains-liz-malia-takes-lead-role-as-legislature-aims-to-curb-foreclosure-crisis-through-mediation
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Chris Helms
4:14 pm on Friday, October 5, 2012
It does seem like she's taking exclusive blame for something that should have been caught years ago, doesn't it? more ›