Thousands of drug cases tainted by disgraced former state chemist Annie Dookhan are expected to be marked for dismissal today after more than four years of litigation and a high court decision that forced the hands of prosecutors across the commonwealth.

Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union expect that roughly 20,000 cases will be set for dismissal today by prosecutors. The ACLU, the state public defender’s office and private attorneys have urged mass dismissal for years.


“It’s great for the people who were convicted by this evidence because they can finally get out from underneath the crippling collateral consequences of a drug conviction,” said Matthew Segal, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “Hopefully this will help those people get housing and jobs and get on with their lives.”

The SJC in January gave prosecutors until today to list all of the convictions they want to dismiss. For the rest, district attorneys are required to certify in a letter that they can and will produce evidence — not handled by Dookhan — that could secure a guilty verdict if they are forced to go to trial again.

When the SJC issued its decision, there were estimates that 24,000 cases may have been corrupted by Dookhan.

“I look forward to seeing what looks like a major step by the (district attorneys) as a result of the SJC decision,” said Anthony Benedetti, chief counsel of the Committee for Public Counsel Services. “It is a long time coming after four years of incredible work by CPCS, the ACLU and private attorneys.”

SJC Chief Justice Ralph Gants, who authored the Dookhan decision, wrote that it “respects the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.” But it was clear that thousands of cases would have to be dismissed, as district attorneys would be hard-pressed to re-prosecute an avalanche of aging, small-time drug offenses.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, who also heads the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, declined to comment on the deadline and expected dismissals.

It is unclear how so-called Dookhan defendants will be notified about the dismissals or when the SJC will act on the lists of cases that will be put before it today. The time frame for when records will be wiped clean is also undetermined.

“It has taken many years and there was an injustice inherent in the slowness of the pace, but it’s better late than never,” said Peter Elikann, the former chairman of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s criminal justice section. “This affected a lot of people over the years, and this is finally a positive, happy note.”