Evidence in 45 Nassau Cases Being Rested After Error Found: DA

Long Island's Nassau County district attorney's office has ordered retesting of ballistics evidence in some 45 criminal cases after the discovery of an error in lab work for a pending case.

A spokesman for District Attorney Kathleen Rice tells Newsday says police found a mistake in lab work completed by one lab technician from an out-of-state facility.

Shams Tarek says "in an overabundance of caution" retesting was ordered of evidence of all other cases that the technician worked on.

He says there was a mistake in one case but that it was not used against anyone in any case.

The spokesman says 32 cases were open and there were 14 cases in which the defendant was already sentenced.

Nassau police declined to comment.

Problems have long plagued the Nassau County police crime lab. County officials closed it in 2011 after it was placed on probation because of concerns over the handling of evidence and other deficiencies. Nine months later, then-state Inspector General Ellen Biben issued a 170-page report criticizing officials for failing to act on signs that the lab was rife with problems.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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