The private investigator whose work triggered the indictment of a retired FBI agent took the stand yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court as defense attorneys again tried to impugn the information that formed the basis of the former G-man’s murder charges.

Angela Clemente, along with her now-deceased partner Dr. Stephen Dresch, had been looking into government corruption within the FBI when she discovered information suggesting a possible corrupt relationship between former FBI agent R. Lindley DeVecchio and his informant Gregory “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa Sr. — a Colombo crime family capo.

It took a United States congressman, James Dellahunt, D-Mass., part of the congressional panel looking into Clemente’s corruption investigation, to recommend that Clemente bring her and Dresch’s findings to the Kings County District Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution. DeVecchio’s defense team, led by attorney Mark Bederow, has been trying to get the charges against their client dismissed on a legal technicality, a “Kastigar” violation — charging the prosecution made use of “immunized” material to secure their indictment.

Among the material prosecutors are accused of using to indict DeVecchio was the testimony he gave at a hearing for which he’d received a grant of immunity, and a statement given during an internal FBI inquiry that eventually cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Clemente yesterday testified that her findings — which she turned over to the Brooklyn DA’s Office and which marked the start of the prosecution — did contain some of the so-called immunized material. However, one legal source said any immunized materials “must be used in a prosecution” in order for there to be a “Kastigar” violation. Prosecutors maintain they did not make use of any this material.

If Bederow proves otherwise, state Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach could dismiss the murder charges altogether — though hearings on the issue over the past several weeks have yet to demonstrate any connection.

Mosaic of Systemic Corruption
Bederow’s lengthy, detailed questions at times ran far afield of the issue of immunized testimony yesterday, prompting several admonishments by Reichbach, who often took over the questioning when things bogged down.

Clemente outlined how her and partner Dresch’s investigation led to the uncovering of “a mosaic of systemic corruption” within the FBI.

In short, Clemente’s investigation into DeVecchio and Scarpa’s relationship revealed sources who charged that the agent gave information that was later used in the commission of mob-related murders, four of which are contained in the criminal indictment.

Clemente said the immunized portions of DeVecchio’s testimony that she did read “had no value” in terms of establishing criminal accountability on the part of the former agent. (One instance of so-called immunized testimony is nothing more than a series of “I don’t recalls,” uttered when DeVecchio was called to the stand at a hearing for a convicted mobster.)

DA’s Talk
All along, prosecutors have maintained they did not make use of any of the immunized material, and that the indictment against the former G-man was the result of evidence and witness testimony.

In an effort to drive that point home, the DA’s office decided to call to the stand late yesterday afternoon Assistant District Attorneys Monique Ferrell, Kevin Richardson and Joe Alexis — presumably to testify that they had not made use of any “immunized” material in making their case against DeVecchio.

The trial itself is scheduled for mid-September, when DeVecchio will be tried for his part in four homicides — Mary Bari, Lawrence Lampesi, Dominic DiDomenico and Patrick Porco.

“We established a major pattern of many people being killed, while Scarpa was out there on the streets,” Clemente told the Eagle after yesterday’s testimony. Numerous agents had known about Scarpa Sr.’s violent criminal activity, Clemente said, but only one spoke up — triggering the FBI’s internal inquiry that cleared DeVecchio.

It wasn’t until after Scarpa Sr.’s death in prison that his former common-law wife, Linda Schiro, spoke out about what she knew about her ex-husband’s relationship with DeVecchio.

Schiro is expected to be a key witness against DeVecchio at the upcoming criminal trial.