Annie Dookhan appeared at the second of what could be five arraignments in five counties
(NECN: Scot Yount, Woburn, Mass.) - The chemist at the center of the Massachusetts drug lab scandal entered a not guilty plea in court Wednesday morning, and she’s expected to do the same thing in a different court later today.
Annie Dookhan is accused of tampering with evidence and faking test results.
"How do you plead Ms. Dookhan," asked a clerk in Middlesex Superior Court.
"Not guilty" replied defendant Annie Dookhan in a hushed voice.
She is at the center of a law enforcement scandal that has triggered a tidal wave in the commonwealth's justice system.
Former state chemist 35-year-old Annie Dookhan is accused in a 27 count indictment of lying on the witness stand about her credentials and manipulating drug evidence that could affect thousands of criminal cases.
On this day, Dookhan appears at her second of what could be five arraignments in five counties.
"Given that she has posted $10,000 cash in Suffolk County, the Commonwealth would only ask that the conditions of her release here be personal, and that she abide by the conditions in Suffolk County," said Assistant Attorney General John Verner.
That includes GPS Monitoring, a curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and an order to stay away from all named witnesses in the case.
Dookhan, who has appeared in court with her husband by her side in the past, was accompanied only by her father.
Neither spoke a word to a wave of news cameras as they left Middlesex Superior Court.
