Drug lab cases information

Dookhan and Farak Case Hotline: 888-999-2881

Table of Contents

Sonja Farak drug lab cases

Between August 2004 and January 2013, chemist Sonja Farak engaged in serious misconduct at the state drug lab in Amherst that jeopardized the integrity of thousands of cases, mostly in Western Massachusetts. Because of Ms. Farak’s misconduct, the Supreme Judicial Court ordered the automatic dismissal with prejudice of drug cases tested by Ms. Farak at the Amherst Drug Lab effective April 5, 2017. On further review, the Court ordered the automatic dismissal with prejudice of all cases tested at the Amherst Drug Lab between January 2009 and January 2013, effective December 13, 2018.

The court will be sending notices to those affected by Ms. Farak’s misconduct. Copies of the notice letter, in English, Spanish, and other languages, are posted below.

Annie Dookhan drug lab cases

Between 2003 and 2011, chemist Annie Dookhan engaged in serious misconduct at a state drug lab that jeopardized the integrity of over 20,000 cases in Eastern Massachusetts. Because of Ms. Dookhan's misconduct, the Supreme Judicial Court ordered the dismissal with prejudice of thousands of drug cases. If your case was affected by Ms. Dookhan’s misconduct, your case was automatically vacated and dismissed with prejudice as of April 20, 2017, and a letter was mailed to you in May 2017 explaining what happened. You can find copies of the Dookhan Notice Letter below.

General drug lab cases information

To find out if your case was affected by either Ms. Dookhan or Ms. Farak, you can call a toll-free hotline operated by defense lawyers with the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the public defender agency in Massachusetts. The number is 888-999-2881. The hotline is open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Please note that if your case has been identified for dismissal, it could take approximately 2-3 months for the relevant court records to be updated. You can check your records electronically.

Information on how to obtain a refund after invalidated conviction

As of May 19, 2020, all claims for relief due to an invalidated conviction as a result of the misconduct of Sonya Farak and Annie Dookhan can no longer be brought through an individual motion process.  Instead, all such relief must now be sought through the pending class action lawsuit, Stacey Foster v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, et al, provided that the claimant meets the criteria to qualify as a member of the class.  For information on how to obtain relief through the class action lawsuit, please contact the attorneys representing the class, as provided below:                                                                                              

Luke Ryan
Sasson, Turnbull, Ryan & Hoose
100 Main Street, Third Floor
Northampton, MA 01060
(413) 586-4800
lryan@strhlaw.com

Daniel N. Marx
William W. Fick
Fick & Marx LLP
24 Federal Street, 4th Floor
Boston, MA 02110
(857) 321-8360
dmarx@fickmarx.com
wfick@fickmarx.com

Last updated: May 23, 2019

Help Us Improve Mass.gov  with your feedback

Please do not include personal or contact information.
Feedback