New problems for Nassau crime lab

A high-ranking official at the Nassau crime lab Wednesday revealed startling new problems at the beleaguered facility, saying incorrect testing of drug samples in nine cases appears to have left some defendants overcharged.

The discovery was made after Nassau sent samples of the drugs ketamine and ecstasy - retained from nine Nassau criminal cases between 2007 and 2009 - to Suffolk County's crime lab for independent retesting.

Suffolk's tests showed Nassau incorrectly measured the purity and amount of drugs in pills seized by police, officials said. That means some defendants charged with a felony should have been charged with a misdemeanor, while others were charged with too high a felony, said Pasquale Buffalino, director of laboratories in the Nassau medical examiner's office.

Buffalino said Wednesday night he sent the drug samples to Suffolk after he took over the crime lab from Nassau police officials in December, following a review by a national accreditation agency that put the lab on probation due to multiple violations. It was the only crime lab with that status nationwide at the time and the second time the lab was put on probation.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a prepared statement the new findings suggest that in six cases, testing practices might have compromised results.

"These preliminary results are deeply disturbing and demand that the medical examiner and independent consultants involved expedite their formal reviews so that we can quickly determine the scope of this serious problem," Rice said.

Buffalino, who is doing a review of the lab, said he had Suffolk do the testing just days after a lab supervisor told him about problems with Nassau's drug testing. He said the pills Suffolk retested contained combinations of ecstasy and caffeine or ketamine and caffeine.

But the Nassau lab measured the pills as though they contained no caffeine - upping the amount of illegal drugs thought to be present.

"There were two situations [with the ecstasy pills] where the weight change would have went from a felony charge to a misdemeanor," Buffalino said.

Buffalino said the testing troubles point to training problems at the lab. The drug testing problems were not cited during the agency's review.

Rice said she had notified the Nassau County Criminal Courts Bar, the Nassau County Bar Association and the chief of the Nassau Legal Aid.

William Kephart, president of the Nassau Criminal Courts Bar Association, said: "There are clearly hundreds, if not a thousand or more, cases that will be impacted, and at this time it is unclear what will happen with these cases."

Just Wednesday, one of what is expected to be many challenges to convictions based on crime lab findings began.

At a Mineola court hearing, defense attorney Brian Griffin said he wants the August 2010 aggravated vehicular assault conviction of Erin Marino of Hicksville thrown out because the lab used a device that had not been maintained properly.