Commonwealth v. Williams

The defendant, Chester Williams, entered into two plea agreements -- one in 2010, the other in 2011 -- that included drug charges infected by the misconduct of former William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute (Hinton Lab) chemist Annie Dookhan.2 He moved in Superior Court to vacate his guilty pleas. A special judicial magistrate entered proposed findings and an order denying his motions, which were adopted by a judge. He now appeals. We affirm the order with respect to the 2010 plea agreement but reverse with respect to the 2011 plea agreement.

Background. 1. 2010 plea agreement. On October…