Nassau lab report may mean more challenges

Defense lawyers are predicting a surge of new challenges in criminal cases, after the state inspector general released a report Thursday calling for all tests previously done at the shuttered Nassau Police Crime Lab -- not just drugs and blood-alcohol evidence -- to be reviewed.

The report by Inspector General Ellen Biben said "weak leadership" and "dysfunctional quality assurance and control" at the lab may have affected all evidence testing there.

It also said retests of drug evidence done at a private laboratory showed that more than 10 percent of the tests "had some inconsistencies in testing that should have been detected." The report itself predicted that challenges to convictions would continue.

Biben said Pasquale Buffolino, the director of the county's planned new lab, should come up with a plan within 30 days to review all evidence. Buffolino would then recommend either a review of paperwork on cases or a retest of the evidence.

"There's going to be a flood of litigation over this," said Joseph LoPiccolo, president of the Nassau Criminal Courts Bar Association. "Until now, everyone's been ignoring the other disciplines, like ballistics and fingerprints. But now all the evidence tested at the lab . . . will be challenged for its reliability and credibility," LoPiccolo said.

A spokesman for Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said she is looking forward to hearing Buffolino's recommendation.

Brian Griffin, who represents Erin Marino of Hicksville, whose felony drunken driving conviction was the first in the county to be overturned based on mishandled evidence at the lab, said a cursory review of lab paperwork is not enough.

"After reviewing this document, and the indisputable conclusion that this lab's failure was profound, it seems unimaginable that this DA's office would continue to use its results without retesting," Griffin said. "Not reviews, not looking at the paperwork, actual retesting."

Officials said overall, they plan to follow the report's recommendations, including that there should be better communication between local officials and the state Commission on Forensic Science that oversees labs. Any new lab built in Nassau should be staffed by civilian scientists and contain state-of-the-art equipment, according to the report.

"We will continue to work with the IG to evaluate and implement these recommendations so we can restore the public's confidence in forensic testing in Nassau County," Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said Thursday.

County officials shut the police crime lab in February, two months after it was placed on probation by an accrediting agency because of concerns over handling of evidence and other deficiencies.

A spokesman for Rice said she agrees that better coordination is needed.

Rice has already designated members of her staff who will coordinate with the state commission to ensure that she is aware of what goes on there, said spokesman John Byrne.

"While district attorneys typically have no oversight of the labs that test the evidence they present, the inspector general's recommendation will ensure that prosecutors remain well-informed about the integrity of the forensic testing and accreditation process," Byrne said.