What Is Up With the Brooklyn DA's Office?

A year ago, the big news out of the Brooklyn DA's office was that an eight month old cat had helped sting a fake vet. And the DA Charles Hynes was able to parlay good will over the adorable Fred (the Detective) until Fred's death in August.

Now, over the course of just two days, there are two scandals brewing in Hynes' office. In the first, investigator Maria Bigani, a 15 year veteran in the Brooklyn DA's office, resigned after allegations that she was having an affair with a mob informant. The Post reported that Biagini was supposed to protect the informant during interviews about ex-FBI agent Lindley DeVecchi (who allegedly gave information to Colombo boss Gregory "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa).

However, Biagini fell for him enough to let him call his family and get cash from his family to throw parties - parties that Biagini attended. And then there's how Biagini may have "suggested a bizarre scheme to get him released to a fertility doctor, who would collect sperm that could be used to impregnate her." But of course it would difficult to release the informant to a fertility doctor, so Biagini planned to meet him at a dentist's office (!). Authorities are saying the informant had no information for the DeVecchio case, so who knows what will happen?

The second scandal involves an assistant district attorney and her defense attorney fiance. ADA Sandra Fernandez was suspended after her fiance Douglas Rankin cross-examined a prosecution witness with a little too much information. See, Rankin, a former prosecutor himself, confronted the witness with information about a pending case - something Rankin shouldn't have known about. The DA's office has only said that the investigation is with a special prosecutor, but the Post reports that Fernandez's number was erased from the internal system.

Hynes, you better plan another sting involving cute pets soon!