Judge looks into Dinallo's eligibility

A Nassau judge quizzed District Attorney Kathleen Rice's chief of staff Wednesday about the eligibility of Eric Dinallo to become a special prosecutor for a probe of the shuttered county police crime lab.

Dinallo, Rice's choice to investigate possible improprieties at the lab, lives and works in Manhattan and is a partner with the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.

State law requires a special district attorney to either live in the county in which he or she will serve, or have an office there or in an adjoining county. Debevoise leased an office for Dinallo Tuesday at RXR Plaza in Uniondale, according to minutes of a court hearing Wednesday in Mineola.

Newsday could find no Nassau phone listing for Dinallo, a former assistant state attorney general under Eliot Spitzer. Debevoise spokeswoman Suzanne Elio had no comment.

Rice and County Executive Edward Mangano ordered the crime lab closed Friday. Until recently, the lab did work such as testing blood-alcohol content and narcotics. But a national accreditation group placed it on probation Dec. 3, citing 26 violations. It is the only one of nearly 400 accredited labs nationwide on probation, and flawed lab work has triggered questions about who knew what and when.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice William Donnino, who is supervising judge of the county court, Wednesday questioned Meg Reiss, Rice's chief of staff, about Dinallo's eligibility, minutes of the oral argument show.

"Statute requires that he have an office or live in Nassau County," Donnino said. "Does he have an office?"

"He does have an office in Nassau County," Reiss replied.

"Since when?" Donnino asked.

"Since yesterday morning," Reiss said, referring to Tuesday morning.

Reiss also pointed to People vs. Rossney, a New York case she said addresses similar eligibility issues.

Donnino did not make a decision Wednesday.

William Kephart, president of the Nassau County Criminal Courts Bar Association, Wednesday called Rice's approach to a special prosecutor's appointment "a sham."

"It's obvious the intent of the law is to have someone who has familiarity with the law in Nassau County and the history of the issues," Kephart said. "I think this is nullifying the intent of that requirement by simply setting up shop the morning he's [Dinallo] being announced."

Rice spokeswoman Carole Trottere said, "The DA is right on the law and independent legal experts have praised her decision. There's no doubt that defense attorneys are embarrassed that it's been the DA and not them leading the way in protecting defendants' rights during process."

In court papers dated Wednesday, Chief Assistant District Attorney Albert Teichman said Rice didn't ask state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to probe the lab because the state Office of Forensic Services monitors public labs and Schneiderman might have to represent it during the investigation.

"In view of a potential future conflict, the New York State attorney general would be an inappropriate special district attorney," Teichman said.

Asked about Rice's concerns about a possible conflict, Schneiderman spokesman Danny Kanner said, "We respect the district attorney's choice."

In a separate development, Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos said Wednesday he plans to audit the lab, reviewing contracts with vendors and management policies that may have contributed to errors.