DA: Crime lab's drug tests were flawed

Nine defendants in criminal cases will be notified that the Nassau police crime lab's drug testing related to their alleged crimes was not conducted properly, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Kathleen Rice said Friday.

"We are contacting the attorneys and defendants to the best of our ability," spokeswoman Carole Trottere said on behalf of Rice, one day after County Executive Edward Mangano said the lab's drug-testing section would be closed in the wake of newly discovered problems there.

In three of the nine cases in question, officials have said, improper testing of drugs seized by police led to defendants facing stiffer charges than they should have. In six cases, Rice has said, test results were found to be inaccurate.

The samples in the nine cases, analyzed from 2007 to 2009, were sent to Suffolk County's crime lab for retesting after a Nassau lab supervisor discovered problems with the drugs, and the Suffolk lab's tests revealed the errors.

Separately from those instances, Trottere said attorneys have filed 16 motions challenging police lab findings in their clients' cases. Those challenges were filed following recent revelations about poor practices at the lab.

The lab, placed on probation in December in a rare move by an accrediting group, was run by the police until the medical examiner's office took it over after the testing problems erupted.

The shutdown of the drug testing section on Thursday means the removal of three detectives who worked there, Mangano's office said late Friday. They will be reassigned to other functions within the Police Department's detective division, Mangano spokeswoman Katie Grilli-Robles said in an e-mail responding to questions from Newsday.

She said the county plans to contract with an outside company to do work for the lab until its problems are resolved, and the cost of the outsourcing is not yet known. The drug-testing section of the lab handles about 6,000 cases per year, according to Grilli-Robles.

Funds to hire new civilian workers to replace the detectives already were "embedded into the original budget and through shifting of vacant positions. It is anticipated that this will not have an impact on the department's operating budget," Grilli-Robles said.

In another case stemming from the crime lab's problems, defense attorney Brian Griffin plans at a court hearing next Thursday to challenge the August 2010 aggravated vehicular assault conviction of Erin Marino of Hicksville because the lab's recent review revealed some blood-alcohol equipment had not been maintained properly.

Nassau Judge George Peck has signed subpoenas sought by Griffin for appearances by Det. Lt. James Granelle, who formerly led the lab, and Pasquale Buffolino, the current lab director.

"In light of the most recent revelations and closure of an entire section of the lab, it seems about time that we truly pull the curtain back and get to the bottom line of who knew what, when they knew it and who they shared it with," Griffin said Friday.