Brooklyn Prosecutor to Testify in Suit Against Him Amid Re-election Bid The Brooklyn district attorney must testify about allegations of misconduct in his office, just weeks before the Democratic primary, in which he is running for re-election, a federal magistrate judge ruled on Wednesday. The ruling came in the case of Jabbar Collins, who has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the office of District Attorney Charles J. Hynes. Mr. Collins won his release after serving 16 years in prison for a murder he said he did not commit. He is seeking to prove not only that there was misconduct in his case, but also that Mr. Hynes's office was engaged in widespread abuses that tainted other cases over a 20-year period. The judge, Robert M. Levy, ordered Mr. Hynes to testify in a deposition the week of Aug. 19; the primary is scheduled for Sept. A lawyer for the city, Arthur G. Larkin, argued that the judge should order Mr. Collins's lawyer, Joel B. Rudin, to give Mr. Hynes notice of which cases he intended to ask questions about so that Mr. Hynes could refresh his memory. "There has to be some mechanism in place to protect the office from the misuse of those kinds of questions and answers," Mr. Larkin said, adding that they would be used by Mr. Rudin "to embarrass" Mr. Hynes. But Judge Levy said, "I don't think it's the court's role to stifle speech in that way." Judge Levy also ordered the deposition of Michael F. Vecchione, a top deputy in the district attorney's office who has also been accused of wrongdoing. Mr. Collins said he would face Mr. Hynes at the deposition for the first time since he was released from prison. "I think it's finally vindication to confront him," Mr. Collins said, "and have him answer questions under oath about why he permitted the horrendous misconduct in my case to occur."