Nassau crime lab report released

Slipshod practices that forced the closing of the Nassau crime lab festered for years because its managers were not qualified and police and county officials failed to recognize and confront its problems, a state investigation found.

The report Thursday by Inspector General Ellen Biben details a "tortured history of significant problems at the lab" and predicted more challenges to criminal cases because of its history of tainted test results.

"The chronic failures of the Nassau County crime lab deprived Nassau County, the criminal justice system, and the public of their right to have complete and unfettered confidence in forensic testing," Biben said in a statement.

The shutdown has unleashed dozens of court filings on both pending cases and past convictions, and forced the county to retest the evidence in thousands of felony drug cases. Nassau judges have thrown out convictions in two cases, saying that they were based on unreliable evidence from the lab. The cases are under appeal.

Taxpayers, as well as criminal defendants, felt the effects of the lab's failures. The report details how bungled drug testing at the lab led to retesting that began early this year at a monthly $100,000 cost to taxpayers. That retesting is still under way.

The 184-page report recommended that law enforcement officials expand their current retests of drug and blood-alcohol evidence to include all disciplines handled by the lab -- including tests for latent fingerprints, ballistics, hair and clothing fibers.

Biben did not recommend any criminal prosecutions after her eight-month probe. But she cast wide blame for the lab's failures, naming its former director, the police department, county officials and a state oversight panel for labs.

The Forensic Evidence Bureau "was plagued with significant and pervasive problems that were allowed to persist due to failures at each level of this oversight," the report said.

Marc Gann, who was president of the Nassau County Bar Association when the lab scandal broke last winter and who continues to lead a bar association committee on lab issues, said while he appreciates the report's recommendations, he was disappointed that individuals weren't held accountable.

"This lab was so dysfunctional, and the conduct there was negligent, if not reckless. But no one's feet were held to the fire," Gann said. "There are people who went to jail wrongly."

Former director rebuked

The lab was closed by county officials Feb. 18, two months after an accrediting agency cited concerns over deficiencies including the handling of evidence.

In her report, Biben said more than 10 percent of the retests that have been done show "some inconsistencies in testing that should have been detected."

Officials of the FEB "struggled to meet the requirements necessary to qualify for accreditation" since it opened in 2003, the report said.

Since-reassigned lab director Det. Lt. James Granelle was a "weak leader" who lacked both "scientific knowledge and dedication," its said.

Granelle did not have sufficient quality-control measures in place. A man Granelle touted as a qualified quality-control manager told investigators he never knew that was his responsibility until after the investigation began, the report said.

Granelle did not return calls for comment.

When Granelle tried to report lab problems to his bosses, his immediate supervisors resisted and even edited his memos to downplay the concerns, the report said.

At one point, Deputy County Executive for Public Safety Timothy Driscoll was said to have asked a member of the police department after a meeting about the lab budget whether there were "any other issues he should be aware of about the lab." In fact, the lab was then on probation. But, in his reply, the person only mentioned that a lock on a lab door needed fixing, the report said.

Nassau Police acting Commissioner Thomas Krumpter, who took over the force earlier this year, said, "The Nassau County Police Department takes this very seriously and is in the process of reviewing the IG's report."

Former Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey could not be reached for comment. He has told Biben's investigators he was never informed that the lab was placed on probation in 2006.

Beyond the police department, the report said Thomas Suozzi, the county executive during the period probed by Biben's office, and some of his deputies had direct authority over the police department, but deferred to to police officials on lab operations.

Suozzi declined to comment.

Report: Confidence 'misplaced'

The report said Rice, like Suozzi, was uninformed about testing problems at the lab. Until she learned about them in December 2010, Rice and her office took for granted the reliability of lab test results, "a confidence that, in this instance, was misplaced," it said,

Once told of the lab's probationary status, Rice "acted responsibly in calling for the retesting of thousands of cases to ensure the reliability of convictions obtained or sought by her office," the report said.

A statement from Rice, said she "welcomes the inspector general's report, her findings and her recommendations."

The report states that current County Executive Edward Mangano responded appropriately when he and Rice learned about the lab's problems and shut it down. In a statement, Mangano said, "We will continue to work with the IG to evaluate and implement these recommendations so we can restore confidence."

The report criticized the state Forensic Commission for failing to appropriately monitor the lab and for not imposing sanctions when it was first placed on probation in 2006. The commission also failed to notify Nassau officials about the lab's precarious status, investigators found, and abdicated most of its responsibility to a national accrediting agency.

"The report has some significant and serious criticism of the commission," said Peter Neufeld, one of its members. "They are all completely valid and appropriate."

A statement from the Division of Criminal Justice Services, which runs the commission, said it is "reviewing the recommendations outlined in the Inspector General's report."

With Robert Brodsky

Some recommendations from the report:

The county should expand its current review of lab casework to include all evidence tested at the lab.

A new lab should have an effective quality assurance program, qualified staff and management and mandatory continuing education and training and education.

Staffing should be appropriate for the expected case volume and the physical plant must be conducive to forensic testing.

Improve communication between the county executive, the district attorney and the lab.

The State Forensic Commission should set clearer standards for lab accreditation and establish regulations to improve the effectiveness of inspections.

The commission should require labs statewide to report upcoming inspections, results, and remediation of problems to appropriate prosecutorial agencies and county officials. The commission itself should report relevant information to the same agencies.