DA HOPES TO EASE DRUG LAB BACKLOG

WORCESTER-- Additional manpower and equipment at the state laboratory that
analyzes most of the illegal narcotics seized by police in Worcester County
are expected to significantly reduce a backlog of untested samples that has
prompted judges to dismiss charges against suspected drug-dealers in some
cases.

District Attorney John J. Conte said the recent hiring of two additional
chemists at the Drugs of Abuse Laboratory at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School and the purchase of a $66,000
mass-spectrometer used to analyze drugs should cut down the lab's average
four-month turnaround time for testing.

"It's really a matter of money and keeping up with the intense prosecution
of drugs that's going on now," Mr. Conte said of the testing delays. He
said the UMass lab, opened in 1987 to take some of the burden off other
drug-testing facilities in the state, has been understaffed for years.

In order to proceed with a drug case, prosecutors must provide proof that
the substance seized is, indeed, a drug. That's where the lab comes in.

Through the efforts of area legislators, the district attorney said, he and
Aaron Lazare, chancellor and dean of the medical school, were able to
secure funding that increased the lab's budget from $275,000 to $431,000
this fiscal year. The additional money enabled the lab to buy new,
state-of-the-art equipment and hire two chemists, who are scheduled to
begin work later this month, Mr. Conte said.

"They told us we would start to see the results in about three months
because that's the amount of time it takes to train new people," the
district attorney said.

Meanwhile, delays in getting drugs analyzed have continued to hamper the
prosecution of drug cases locally and, in some instances, have resulted in
charges being dropped.

On March 15, Judge Elliott L. Zide, presiding justice of Central District
Court, dismissed drug distribution charges against two Worcester men
arrested Sept. 24 after Vice Squad officers saw what they believed was a
drug transaction on Sycamore Street and confiscated nine packets of what
was alleged to be heroin.

The cases of Juan M. Guzman, 25, of 8 Sturgis St., and Jose A. Feliciano,
34, of 86 Austin St., had been scheduled for trial on March 8, but the
trial date was continued for a week at the request of prosecutors because
the nine packets of white powder had not yet been analyzed at the UMass
lab, according to court records.

On March 15, prosecutors still were unable to produce a certificate from
the lab, and Judge Zide allowed a motion filed by defense lawyers John P.
Garrity and Sean M. McGinty to dismiss the charges against their clients,
court records show.

Because the cases were dismissed "without prejudice" the prosecution is not
precluded from refiling charges. Mr. Guzman, who had been held on $5,000
cash bail, was released from custody. Mr. Feliciano remained in custody on
unrelated matters.

"It's an issue of fundamental due process," Judge Zide said in an interview
last week.

He said people accused of drug offenses, particularly those who are held in
custody on bail while awaiting trial, should be able to have their cases
resolved in court in a reasonable period of time. That does not occur, he
said, when a case is delayed for several months because the substance
seized by police has not yet been analyzed.

Judge Zide said he and his fellow jurists "have opinions about when the
line is crossed, when it's just not fair anymore."

"My view has been when it gets to be something like five months, we've gone
over the line," the judge said, adding that such delays were "not unusual."

He cited a case before him last Wednesday involving a suspect arraigned in
October on drug charges and held in lieu of bail while prosecutors awaited
a report from the UMass lab. When the report finally arrived, it showed
that the substance seized in the case was not a narcotic, after all, and
the prosecutor moved to dismiss the case, according to Judge Zide.

"No blame, but I would like to think that doesn't meet the requirements of
due process in the United States," the judge said.

Criminal defense lawyer David L. Cataldo and Michael S. Hussey, lawyer in
charge of the Worcester office of the state Committee for Public Counsel
Services, agreed.

"The worst part about it is if somebody is being held on bail," said Mr.
Cataldo, noting that while negative tests are uncommon, they do occur.

"There have been cases where people have spent a considerable amount of
time in jail, and it's come back no controlled substance," Mr. Cataldo said.

Mr. Hussey said long delays resulting from the lab's inability to keep pace
with the volume of drugs being sent there for analysis can mean suspects
are held in jail for substantial periods of time, only to be acquitted
after trial or, perhaps, convicted and placed on probation.

Even those not held in custody before trial must suffer the "anxiety" of
having unresolved cases hanging over their heads, he said.

The delays also contribute to the serious crowding problem at the Worcester
County Jail and House of Correction, which now houses an all-time high of
more than 400 inmates awaiting trial, according to Mr. Conte.

The district attorney said inadequate resources provided by the state for
the UMass lab in recent years have left it incapable of processing in a
timely fashion an increased volume of drugs seized as a result of an
"accelerated and relentless push on drugs" by area law enforcement
officials. Although the testing can be completed more quickly on a
"priority" basis, he said, the average turnaround time at the lab is about
four months.

"It's been a problem. It just was not set up for the type of volume that we
do," Mr. Conte said.

While the overall crime rate has been declining locally and nationally for
the last decade, the district attorney said, drug arrests in the 60 cities
and towns in his jurisdiction have increased, largely because of police
intelligence-gathering efforts.

Mr. Conte cited, in particular, the "outstanding" work of the Worcester
Police Department's Vice Squad, which he described as "one of the most
experienced drug units in the state."

The UMass facility is not the only state drug-testing lab that has been
overwhelmed in recent years by an increase in the number of samples sent
for analysis. By late 2000, the state Department of Public Health
laboratory in Jamaica Plain and the one in Amherst, which processes some
Worcester County samples, were reporting backlogs that were preventing them
from honoring their agreement with the state judiciary to test samples in
an average of two weeks.

In one year, DPH officials said, the turnaround time had grown to an
average of 71 days. State and Boston police have their own laboratories.

In a Dec. 29, 2000, letter to area legislators seeking their support for
increased funding for the UMass lab, Mr. Conte said the problems related to
testing delays were "approaching the crisis stage" with some cases "running
six months behind."

"As a result, defendants charged with drug violations either sit in jail
until the test results come back, or are out on bond pending trial. This
backlog must be cut or cases will be dismissed because of a lack of due
process," the district attorney predicted then.

UMass spokeswoman Alison Duffy said last week that lab officials were
unaware of any drug cases being dismissed because of testing delays.

"We have had no complaints, whatsoever," she said.

"As far as the Drugs of Abuse Laboratory knows, the system works
effectively and satisfactorily for the district attorney," Ms. Duffy said.
While she was unable to provide an average turnaround time for testing at
the lab, she noted that analyses are done on an expedited basis when
requested by prosecutors.

"The DA sort of sets the schedule in terms of what needs to be done
quickly," Ms. Duffy said. At the same time, she acknowledged that routine
testing is further delayed when a particular case is given priority status.

Ms. Duffy said the UMass lab, which now has four full-time chemists and one
part-time chemist, processes about 11,000 cases a year and has a current
backlog of more than 1,000 cases.

"In a perfect world, there would be no backlog," she said. "Everyone does
agree that this is a far from perfect situation."

In October, Ms. Duffy pointed out, the lab processed 417 cases, but took in
695 new cases. "So, obviously, the backlog grows," she said.

The addition of the lab's third mass-spectrometer and the two new chemists
scheduled to begin work later this month "should absolutely help dissipate
the problem," and will likely enable the lab to increase its output by
about 25 percent in the first year, according to Ms. Duffy.

"Will this completely solve the problem? Probably not, because the volume
is still very, very heavy. But, it's going to make a marked difference.
There's no question about that," Mr. Conte said.