Detective Louis Scarcella’S wrong-man case prompts review. (AP)
A team of Brooklyn prosecutors will examine the work of a decorated retired NYPD detective whose case against an alleged rabbi-killer unraveled in March, sources said yesterday.
The team will assist the two-person Brooklyn district attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit — headed by John O’Mara — to review as many as 50 cases in which former Detective Louis Scarcella was the lead investigator.
“There’s no way O’Mara can look into 50 cases, so they’re going to farm them out to other ADAs,” a source with knowledge of the review told The Post.
The unit’s investigation of the 1990 trial of David Ranta led to his conviction for killing a Brooklyn rabbi being overturned after he spent 23 years behind bars.
DA Charles Hynes’ office has said it will now look into every murder case that resulted in a conviction after trial in which the once-heralded Scarcella, 61, headed the investigation.
“Our primary concern is to see if there are any innocent people in jail,” said Hynes’ spokesman, Jerry Schmetterer.
Among the 50 cases are several unrelated homicides in which the key witness was the same Brooklyn prostitute and crack addict.
Scarcella did not return a call for comment.