Commonwealth v. Cotto
Annotate this CaseDefendant pleaded guilty to trafficking in cocaine and unlawful possession of ammunition. Two years later, Sonja Farak, a chemist at the Department of Public Health’s State Laboratory Institute in Amherst during the time of Defendant’s criminal case, was indicted on numerous counts of tampering with evidence, theft of a controlled substance from a dispensary, and unlawful possession of a class B substance. Three weeks later, Defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 30(b), alleging that Farak’s misconduct cast serious doubt on the justice of his convictions. A superior court judge denied Defendant’s motion. Farak subsequently pleaded guilty to all charges. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order denying Defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty pleas, holding that, due to the Commonwealth’s failure to thoroughly investigate Farak’s misconduct at the Amherst drug lab, Defendant was entitled to a measure of relief. Remanded.
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