Is NYPD evidence housed properly?

(New York- WABC, October 9, 2006) (WABC) -- There are new questions about the NYPD's handling of evidence in old criminal cases. Just last Friday, Scott Fappiono of Brooklyn was released after 21 years in prison when newly discovered DNA proved he was wrongly convicted of rape, crucial evidence in his case had been lost in the NYPD's central warehouse.

Imagine being convicted of a crime you did not commit, and then being told that crucial evidence that could prove you innocent can't be located. That seems to be happening all too often. Now, one state assemblyman wants to do something about it.

Everyday is a treasure for 46-year-old Alan Newton who spent nearly one half of his life, 22 years, in prison for a rape he did not commit. DNA evidence proved him right, but it took years. Newton says he was told the evidence, stored in the NYPD's Pearson Place warehouse in Long Island City, couldn't be located.

"I was told it may have got destroyed in a fire, it may have been lost, or we just can 't find it," Newton said.

Forty Five-year-old Scott Fappiano, released just last Friday, faced a similar legal battle to find evidence he knew would prove him innocent of a Brooklyn rape. Evidence in his case was also stored at Pearson Place, a decrepit monster of a building that critics say the crumbling exterior is all too symbolic of the tracking system within.

Peter Neufeld, Innocence Project: "Unfortunately it's a black hole. We've had less good fortune locating evidence in New York City than in the rural quarters of Mississippi and Alabama."

Neufeld and the staff at the Innocence Project took on both Scott Fappiano and Alan Newton's case. The DNA in Newton's case was:

Peter: "Exactly where it was supposed to be, all the time."
Sarah Wallace: "22 years later."
Peter: "That's right."

The DNA at Pearson Place in Scott Fappiano's was never found. Miraculously, one small sample had been sent to a private lab called Lifecodes. That DNA sample did not match Scott Fappiano, otherwise he'd still be in prison.

The Innocence Project is now reopening 17 cases the non-profit group had previously closed because of problems locating evidence at Pearson Place.

An NYPD spokesman said: "The police commissioner is already overhauling the evidence tracking system, and is committed to taking whatever steps are necessary to finding evidence in cases where the courts are considering claims of wrongful conviction."

State Assemblyman Joseph Lentol of Brooklyn has requested that the NYPD appear at a special hearing he's holding tomorrow on the warehousing of evidence in post-conviction cases.

"Looking for DNA shouldn't be looking for a needle in a haystack," Lentol said.

"Somebody gotta get blamed?somebody definitely gotta get blamed for what happened," Newton said.

Newton, who's back in college now at Medger Evers in Brooklyn, has his sights set on law school.

"There's a lot more people inside who are innocent?whether it be because of lack of funds to hire a competent attorney or can't find evidence in their case," he said.

Lentol wants to introduce a number of proposals, including a permanent state wide commission to review and monitor claims of innocence.

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