WOBURN, Mass., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- An accused fraudulent Massachusetts drug lab chemist continued a statewide court tour, pleading not guilty in Middlesex Superior Court, her lawyer said.
Annie Dookhan, 35, who worked for the Massachusetts Department of Health as a chemist in the state's drug testing lab and allegedly falsified test records and lied under oath about having a master's degree in chemistry, faces a total of 27 indictments from a statewide grand jury, the Boston Herald said Wednesday.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley offered to consolidate the charges into a single superior court, but Dookhan's lawyer declined, meaning his client will appear in multiple courtrooms on charges of obstructing justice and perjury.
Dookhan's attorney Nicholas Gordon declined to say why he prefers trekking across the state rather than appearing in a single courthouse for the proceedings.
She has already been arraigned in Suffolk County, with Norfolk, Essex, Bristol and Plymouth counties still to go.
Dookhan remains free on $10,000 bond, but must wear a GPS tracking device and abide by a 10 p.m. curfew.
