What Happened To Sonja From Netflix Drug Scandal Series - Refinery29 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. Ryan then filed a Farak admitted to being on a list of drugs while working between 2004 and her 2013 arrest. 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. After high school, Sonja went on to major in biochemistry at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in western 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. They were all rendered unacceptable. "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." His is one of what lawyers say could be thousands of convictions questioned in the wake of the Farak scandal. It was. 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 place was closed as soon as Faraks crimes came to light. In January 2014, she pleaded guilty to evidence tampering and drug possession. In 2012, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court foundegregious prosecutorial misconduct after an assistant district attorney withheldevidence a judge had ordered him toproduce for the defense of a teenageraccused of statutory rape. Many more are likely to follow, with the total expected to exceed 50,000. 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. Defense lawyers doubled down on challenges to every case she might have taintednot just her own, which district attorneys ultimately agreed to dismiss, but also her co-workers', based on Farak's admission that she stole from other chemists' samples. A status hearing on Penate's suit, which was filed in 2017, is scheduled for July. 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. Even the master's degree on her rsum was fabricated. 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. The governor also tapped a local attorney, David Meier, to count how many individuals' cases might be tainted. Her reporting focuses on mental health, criminal justice and education. You can check your records electronically by following this link: https://icori.chs.state.ma.us. Kaczmarek argued for qualified immunity after she was sued by Rolando Penate, who spent five years in prison on drug charges in which the evidence in his case was tested by Farak. Who Is Luke Ryan From Netflix's 'How To Fix A Drug Scandal'? | True 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. Shortly into her role at Amherst, Farak decided to try liquid methamphetamine to ease her personal struggles. Massachusetts DA seeks to vacate thousands of drug convictions - CNN State prosecutors hadnt provided this evidence to other district attorneys offices contending with the Farak fallout, either. Asked for comment, Foster in January objected through an attorney that the judge never gave her an opportunity to defend herself and that his ruling left an "indelible stain on her reputation.". The latest true crime offering from Netflix is the documentary series "How to Fix a Drug Scandal." It dives into the story of Sonja Farak, a chemist who worked for a Massachusetts state drug. This story is an effort to reconstruct what was known about Farak and Dookhan's crimes, and when, based on court filings, diaries, and interviews with the major players. Before her sentencing, Farak failed a drug test while out on bail, according to Mass Live. Dookhan's transgressions got more press attention: Her story broke first, she immediately confessed, and her misdeeds took place in big-city Boston rather than the western reaches of the state. 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. In a March 2013 "Whether law enforcement officials overlooked these papers or intentionally suppressed them is a question for another day.". "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.". "No reasonablejury could conclude that this evidence is not favorable.". Hearing Officer Finds Misconduct Against Former Drug Lab Prosecutors - WBUR "Dookhan's consistently high testing volumes should have been a clear indication that a more thorough analysis and review of her work was needed," an internal review found. . 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.". Deval Patrick's office didn't learn about the protocol breach until December 2011. 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. Still, the state was acquiring evidence. Magistrate Judge Robertson denied a request in Penate's lawsuit that Kaczmarek be prohibited from contesting the special hearing officer's findings. 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.". She also starting dipping into police-submitted samples, a "whole other level of morality," as Farak called it during a fall 2015 special grand jury session. Looking back, it seems that Massachusetts law enforcement officials, reeling from the Dookhan case, simply felt they couldn't weather another full-fledged forensics scandal. Soon after, the state police took over the control, and the lab was moved to Springfield, where it remains under the supervision of the state police. She was trying to suppress mental health issues, depression in specific, and she attempted to kill herself in high school, according to Rolling Stone. Kaczmarek got a note from Sgt. Since her release, she has kept a low profile and managed to stay out of the public . Investigators found that Sonja Farak tested drug samples and testified in court while under the influence of methamphetamines, ketamine, cocaine, LSD and other drugs between 2005 and 2013. TherapyNotes is a complete practice management system with everything you need to manage patient records, schedule appointments, meet with patients remotely, create rich documentation, and bill insurance, right at your fingertips. 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. "A forensic analyst responding to a request from a law enforcement official may feel pressureor have an incentiveto alter the evidence in a manner favorable to the prosecution.". Not only did they not turn these documents over, but I wasnt aware that they existed, said Frank Flannery, who was the Hampden County assistant district attorney assigned to appeals following Faraks arrest. It's Boston local news in one concise, fun and informative email. When a Therapy Session starts, the software automatically creates a To-Do list item reminding users to create the relevant documentation. 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. Her role was to test for the presence of illegal substances, which could be instrumental in thousands of . Reporting for this story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism. 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. ", The chemist, Sonja Farak, worked at the state drug lab in Amherst, Massachusetts, for more than eight years. Grand Jury Transcript - Sonja Farak - September 16, 2015 Contributed by Shawn Musgrave (Musgrave Investigations) p. 1. another filing. | 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. Sonja Farak (Netflix) An ex-lab chemist Sonja Farak's negligence and misdeeds shocked US when she was arrested in 2013 for stealing and using drugs from the lab where she worked. 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 . Penate alleged Kaczmarek's actions violated his "Brady rights," which require prosecutors to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to defense counsel. In the eight and a half years she worked at the Hinton State Laboratory in Boston, her supervisors apparently never noticed she certified samples as narcotics without actually testing them, a type of fraud called "dry-labbing." "All Defendant had to do to honor the Plaintiffs Brady rights was to turn over copies of documents that were obviously exculpatory as to the Farak defendants or accede to one of the repeated requests from counsel, including Plaintiffs counsel, that they be permitted to inspect the evidence seized from Faraks car," Robertson wrote in her ruling. But she worried they might be privileged as health information. Penate is seeking a new trial, contending the conviction should be reversed because of prosecutorial misconduct and evidence tainted by Farak. wrote to the Attorney Generals Office two days later. She tried to kill herself in high school, according to Rolling Stone. The disgraced chemist was sentenced to less than two years behind bars in 2014, following her guilty pleas for stealing cocaine from the lab. This not only led to people getting a reprieve from prison but also filing their own lawsuits against the injustice they had to suffer. At least 11,000 cases have already been dismissed due to fallout from the scandal, with thousands more likely to come. TherapyNotes Because of all that, it's no surprise that Farak was sent to prison in Massachusetts. Sonja Farak was a chemist for a state crime lab in Massachusetts. Farak signed Relying on an investigation conducted by state police, the judges Judge Kinder ordered her to produce all potentially privileged documents for his review to determine whether they could be disclosed. She had never quashed a subpoena before, but supervisors told her to fend off motions about Farak. Massachusetts crime lab scandal worsens: Dookhan and Farak. On paper, these numbers made Dookhan the most productive chemist at Hinton; the next most productive averaged around 300 samples per month.