Officials: Nassau prosecutor resigns; criticized for work on '99 murder case

A Nassau County prosecutor has resigned after being sharply criticized by a Queens judge for his conduct more than 20 years ago in the case of three men convicted of killing an off-duty NYPD cop, officials said Wednesday.

Charles A. Testagrossa, who most recently worked as an executive assistant district attorney in charge of investigations under Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas, had previously worked for years as a prosecutor in Queens.

On Friday, Queens State Supreme Court Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas vacated the murder convictions of three men for the Dec. 21, 1999 killings of off-duty NYPD Officer Charles Davis and East Elmhurst store owner Ira Epstein. Testagrossa was involved in prosecuting the case.

In vacating the convictions of Gregory Bell, Rohan Belt and Gary Johnson, Zayas said he found the prosecution committed "egregious errors" in withholding certain documents from the defense.

After Zayas vacated the convictions, all three defendants were released from Greenhaven Correctional Facility in upstate Dutchess County after spending the past 24 years in custody. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the failure to disclose the materials was inadvertent and her office would decide in about three months if the case will be retried.

Davis and Epstein were at the Elmhurst store, opening it up for the day, when they were set upon by robbers who shot them to death, the NYPD said at the time.

In an email to Newsday on Wednesday, Testagrossa confirmed that he had resigned.

"I need to be independent of the Nassau DA’s Office to defend myself and the reputation I earned for fairness and integrity in over 43 years as [a] prosecutor," Testagrossa said.

Last week, Testagrossa said in an email that he first learned of the reinvestigation of the prosecutions in July when he was contacted by Katz’ s conviction integrity unit, which is charged with taking a look at past cases to find any unjust convictions. Testagrossa said he assisted the unit with its review and insisted he disclosed all exculpatory material he was aware of.

During the reinvestigation of the case, Zayas said there was evidence in the files that another Queens gang known as "Speed Stick" may have committed the robbery and killings. There was also evidence in the files that one of the prosecution witnesses had a history of mental issues, including hallucinations, Zayas said.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.