Man freed on murder conviction found not guilty of drug possession

A Roxbury District Court judge today found Shawn Drumgold not guilty on charges of possession of cocaine and heroin for his arrest last year, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Drumgold, who spent 15 years in prison for the murder of Tiffany Ann Moore before being released after prosecutors agreed he didn't get a fair trial, was freed after prosecutors failed to convince Judge David Weingarten he was the owner of drugs found in a Roxbury house in January, 2011. In a statement, the DA's office says:

Weingarten's decision was based on prosecutors' theory of possession, and not any issues surrounding the testing of those drugs: former DPH lab employee Annie Dookhan was neither the primary nor the confirmatory chemist on the case and her role in the Drumgold matter was to sign the drug certificates as a notary public. Those certificates plainly show that two other chemists -- who are not under any suspicion -- performed the testing.

In 2006 and again in 2009, Drumgold had pleaded guilty to similar drug-possession charges in cases in West Roxbury and then Dorchester.