He quits after slam over old conviction

A top Nassau County prosecutor abruptly resigned after a judge slammed him for withholding evidence in the cases of three men convicted of killing an off-duty police officer in Queens more than two decades ago.

Charles Testagrossa, the executive district attorney for investigations in Nassau, put in his resignation Tuesday days after revelations he and fellow prosecutor Brad Leventhal withheld key evidence in the 1997 prosecution of Rohan Bolt, George Bell and Gary Johnson, who had each served more than 20 years in prison.

The men were convicted for the murders of off-duty cop Charles Davis and Ira Epstein, the owner of a check-cashing joint where Davis worked after hours. The prosecutors had sought the death penalty.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Joseph Zayas overturned the men’s conviction Friday, saying the prosecutors in the Bolt case “deliberately withheld credible information” that others were guilty of the murders.

“This exculpatory information was in the prosecution’s possession, and had in fact been investigated and documented by the lead prosecutor at Mr. Bell’s trial,” Zayas said of Testagrossa.

“It astounds me and shocks my conscience that even in 1997, that constitutional violations of this magnitude can happen in any prosecution, much less the prosecution in a capital case,” Zayas added.

Testagrossa was a prosecutor in Queens for 30 years. He left for the senior post in Nassau County in 2016.

“Throughout my long career I have disclosed all exculpatory material of which I was aware and I did so in this case as well,’ Testagrossa said in a statement he provided to the Daily News. “I have always believed that all parties in a trial, the victims and their families, the defendants and their families deserve fairness and justice.

“Yesterday I resigned from the Nassau County District Attorney’s office to be free to take the steps necessary to defend myself and the reputation for fairness and integrity I have earned over my 43-plus years of public service.”

A spokesman for the Nassau County DA’s office declined comment. An official with the Queens DA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Among the evidence withheld was that another group known as the Speedstick Crew may have been responsible and that a key witness suffered from hallucinations.

Zayas released the three men without bail Friday.