Patrick meets with district attorneys on drug lab

BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is pushing his administration to move forward in collecting information related to potentially mishandled evidence at the state police drug lab in Jamaica Plain.

Patrick met with members of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association Wednesday afternoon to discuss the investigation and to urge their cooperation in working with defense attorneys and the judicial system. Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby and Department of Public Safety and Security Secretary Mary Elizabeth Heffernan also sat in on the meeting.

Patrick said he would like to establish a centralized "war room" to reconcile database and spreadsheet information regarding mishandled cases by the end of the week.

The lab was shut down after state police discovered a chemist allegedly failed to follow protocols in drug testing.

Cox Media Group