Jury Clears Supervisors of Wrongdoing in Massachusetts Drug Lab Scandal

A federal jury has rejected an effort to hold supervisors liable for the wrongdoing of a former state drug lab chemist convicted of tampering with evidence in hundreds of cases.

The Boston Globe reports that a Boston man who served two and a half years in prison based on evidence handled by Annie Dookhan, sued three of Dookhan's former supervisors at the state Public Health Department, alleging they were negligent for failing to notice and report her wrongdoing.

The jury ruled in the defendants' favor Monday.

Lawyers for the defendants said the verdict will likely set the standard for similar lawsuits their clients face.

Dookhan was sentenced to prison in 2013 for falsifying drug tests in criminal cases, leading to a review of thousands of convictions.