Commonwealth v. Ware
Annotate this CaseBetween 2004 and 2013, Defendant was indicted on drug charges in three separate cases. Also during that time, Sonja Farak was a chemist at the Department of Public Health’s State Laboratory Institute in Amherst. Farak later pleaded guilty to several counts of tampering with evidence, theft of a controlled substance from a dispensary, and unlawful possession of cocaine. Based on Farak's misconduct, Defendant filed a motion pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 30(c)(4) for leave to conduct postconviction discovery and for funds with respect to the three cases that had been brought against him. Defendant sought retesting of drug evidence maintained by the Springfield police department that related to the cases brought by the Commonwealth between 2004 and 2013. The superior court judge denied Defendant’s motion for leave to conduct postconviction discovery, concluding that Defendant failed to establish a prima facie case for relief under Rule 30(c)(4). The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order but remanded for further proceedings, holding that Defendant was entitled to retest the controlled substance that gave rise to his 2009 indictment charging distribution of cocaine as a subsequent offense.
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