"John Verner, until this year head of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office criminal bureau, had strong words to describe his feelings about finding out that documents connected to Sonja Farak's drug addiction had not been turned over to district attorneys. "I was angry. I was upset. I was shocked. I was frustrated," Verner said Thursday about his November 2014 discovery. "I was pissed." He was testifying at a hearing in front of Hampden Superior Court Judge Richard J. Carey dealing with fallout from Farak's criminal wrongdoing at the Amherst state drug lab, where she was a state chemist. Verner said he was "freaking out." He said he would never have authorized or ordered anyone to intentionally withhold the documents. "I would never, ever, ever do that ... That's not who I am," Verner said. In January 2014, Farak, then 35, of Northampton, was given an 18-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to four counts of theft of a controlled substance from an authorized dispensary (the drug lab), four counts of tampering with evidence and two counts of possession of cocaine. Farak began using drugs from the lab as early as 2004, according to court documents released in May. The Amherst lab was closed due to her actions. Former state chemist Sonja Farak pleaded guilty to evidence tampering, drug thefts and drug possession. Ten defendants are looking for new trials or to withdraw their guilty pleas because Farak tested drug evidence in their cases. Carey has said he wants facts that would show whether the case charging Farak with evidence tampering was handled properly or whether state officials intentionally buried evidence that could have been exculpatory for the defendants. Although testimony has been wide ranging, the focus is mental health and substance abuse treatment records found in Farak's car when she was arrested in January 2013 for drug thefts from the lab. The records included information about her treatment for drug addiction more than a year before her arrest. Those records came to light in the fall of 2014 after Luke Ryan, lawyer for some of the drug defendants, was allowed to inspect evidence in the case. State police and the attorney general's office had had the records since searching Farak's car shortly after her arrest. State officials repeatedly fought Ryan's request to look at the evidence. Verner testified his office didn't want anyone going through evidence before the tampering case against Farak was resolved. Verner, who is now a Suffolk County assistant district attorney dealing with cold case homicides, said he believed all information had been turned over to district attorneys so they could distribute them as discovery to lawyers who were arguing their clients were affected by Farak's behavior. He said he had seen references in emails and a memo to mental health records during the prosecution of Farak. He said it would not be his role to check with individual assistant attorneys general to see if they turned over all the required material. "They know what they have to do," Verner said."
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/12/former_state_official_says_he.html