The prosecutions were disappointed when Oneida County Court judge ruled Thursday that the case against a county jail correction officer is weak and could be heading for the dismissal of the case. Judge Barry M. Donalty said that there wasn’t enough evidence to justify the search conducted at the home of Peter DiNardo, a county jail correction officer, in connection with his alleged sale of steroids. DiNardo was charged together with correction officer Zachary Lazore as accomplices with the criminal sale and possession of steroids in connection with an alleged drug transaction that occurred in July last year.

The judge identified so many loopholes in the case. Aside from the defective warrant, the prosecutors will not be able to present any of the steroids, testosterone and cocaine allegedly seized from the Deerfield home of the accused. Judge Donalty will further review the testimony from the grand jury to determine whether any of the related drug charges against DiNardo and Lazore should be dismissed. Additional charges filed against DiNardo were one felony and two misdemeanor drug charges after police searched his Floyd Avenue home in August 2009 but the search warrant was said to be questionable.

The Observer Dispatch reported that the Oneida County’s district attorney expressed frustration that the state police CNET Narcotics Unit is unwilling to allow prosecutors to review such warrants ahead of time. District Attorney Scott McNamara said that CNET will not comply with that request on their behalf and they don’t know why. “They feel that they possess the knowledge and experience that they don’t need us to help them, and that’s unfortunate because this outcome could have been prevented very easily,” he said.

“Around the state, hundreds of search warrants are issued based on our CNET investigations,” state police Lt. Glenn Miner in Albany said. “It’s ultimately up to the judge to decide whether the warrant is sufficient or not, and the overwhelming majority of these warrants are fine,” Miner said in response to the statement of the district attorney.

Judge Donalty stated in his ruling that it is clear from the information presented to the court that there did not exist information sufficient to support a reasonable belief that evidence of illegal activity would be present at the specific time at DiNardo’s home. The procedural lapses of the apprehending officers were noted in the case. In the surveillance conducted in the alleged sale of steroids between the accused and codefendant, the Judge noted that there is no indication that Lazore and DiNardo had any hand-to-hand exchanges of money or drugs.

Police officers also failed to present the informant to the judge issuing the warrant to evaluate his or her credibility regarding past experiences with DiNardo and Lazore. The informant alleged that he was able to purchase steroids from Lazore on nearly a dozen occasions. He also claimed that he bought steroids from DiNardo at least 3 or 4 times.

District Attorney Scott McNamara said he and prosecuting Assistant District Attorney Grant Garramone are not yet sure how DiNardo’s case will move forward. “Grant and myself will have to sit down and review all the evidence we have and make that decision,” he said. I can’t make that call at this time, but this is a substantial blow to the case. There’s no doubt about that,” he added.

The schedule of the next hearing of the DiNardo’s case is not yet set but Lazore will stand trial on May 17.

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