Report lists plan to improve Nassau crime lab

The Nassau medical examiner said he has submitted a report detailing his plans to fix problems at the police crime laboratory to the accreditation board that put the lab on a yearlong probation a month ago.

Medical Examiner Pasquale Buffolino, who was recently put in charge of the crime lab by county officials, said he gave the corrective plan to both the New York State Commission on Forensic Science and to the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors. It explains several safeguards he has put in place since the national accreditation group put the lab on probation Dec. 3.

Buffolino and other county officials did not provide a copy of the report yesterday.

The report - which is the county's first official response to the accreditation board - also touches on several broad-stroke measures that the county has announced to address the problems. They include putting the medical examiner permanently in charge of the lab's operations and hiring an independent consultant, Peter Pizzola, to oversee its overhaul, Buffolino said.

The accrediting group will now review the plan, and decide whether to approve it, Buffolino said.

"We've proposed methods to create a quality system that is going to ensure that people are following their procedures," Buffolino said.

The Nassau Police crime laboratory is the only one of nearly 400 labs in the country currently on probation. It was given that status after a November inspection that found 25 failures of "essential" or "important" protocols.

Buffolino said his staff has corrected several of the failures, including problems with the equipment that tests blood for alcohol content and problems securing some evidence. He said he is still working on correcting other failures.

Lapses at the lab could call into question evidence used to prosecute defendants in past and current criminal cases, legal experts say, and has already led to at least one legal motion seeking to dismiss cases or overturn convictions.