NEWS

Taxpayers pay disgraced medical examiner $75K after firing

Jonathan Starkey
The News Journal

Top Delaware officials talked tough last year after firing Richard Callery, the disgraced chief medical examiner who remains the subject of a criminal investigation over the misuse of state resources.

But Callery, who state officials say failed to properly oversee a state laboratory where drug evidence went missing, was well-compensated by the state even after his dismissal in July.

In September, the state paid Callery $74,903.88 for unused vacation and sick time, according to Delaware payroll records.

He collected a total of $184,854.50 in 2014, despite being suspended since February.

Former Delaware Chief Medical Examiner Richard T. Callery

Delaware Sen. Greg Lavelle, R-Sharpley, said Callery should have been fired earlier for his part in the state's drug evidence scandal, not compensated handsomely.

"It's an outrage," Lavelle said. "He's a stain on the Delaware criminal justice system and I hope he never works again."

Callery was allowed to collect on hundreds of hours in unused leave even after the state's top criminal prosecutor told lawmakers last May that Callery was "absent for large, large periods of time" conducting a private consulting business.

A News Journal review found Callery performed 173 autopsies or examinations in Rhode Island alone between 2008 and 2011, earning a total of $189,000.

The prosecutor, Kathy Jennings, said Callery left the medical examiner's office without proper supervision while he testified and offered forensic consultant services in other states. An internal state investigation found Callery misused state resources to conduct his private business.

Nevertheless, top state officials, including Gov. Jack Markell, say Callery was entitled to tens of thousands in compensation as a state employee, including $34,359.58 in accrued but unused sick time, and $40,544.30 in accrued but unused vacation hours.

"Dr. Callery was paid his accrued benefits according to the law," Kelly Bachman, a spokeswoman for the governor, said by email.

In a letter which the Markell administration made public last July, state officials appeared to be much harder on Callery. Delaware Homeland Security Secretary Lew Schiliro wrote to Callery on July 4 that he had regularly misused state resources to conduct a private business, engaged in consulting work that constituted conflicts of interest and neglected his official duties in favor of private work.

"As a result of the significant extent of your misconduct, the state has sustained incalculable damage and incurred tremendous costs," Schiliro wrote.

Callery could not be reached for this story. A woman who answered the phone at his home, but did not identify herself, said, "he doesn't want to talk to you."

"Haven't you done enough damage?" she asked.

Callery joined the Delaware medical examiner's office in 1993 and was among the state's highest-paid state employees, earning an annual salary of $198,500.

He has since become a burden on the Delaware system of justice. Investigators discovered more than 50 pieces of drug evidence had been tampered with at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner between 2010 and 2014, jeopardizing state drug prosecutions.

Callery is now complicating murder cases. State prosecutors have cut deals with murder defendants because they cannot call Callery as a witness, Deputy Attorney General Steven P. Wood told The News Journal last month.

Sgt. Richard Bratz, a spokesman for the Delaware State Police, would not comment on details of the investigation into Callery, saying only: "Sorry, still an ongoing investigation with no investigative details to release."

Delaware Sen. Harris McDowell, D-Wilmington North, was surprised that Callery was paid so much last year, noting that lawmakers restructured the medical examiner's office in the wake of the scandal because Callery had left it in "shambles."

"I just don't know about rewarding people for this kind of stuff," said McDowell, who co-chairs the General Assembly's budget committee. "I wonder if he did his consulting work during that time."

Delaware Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover South, said lawmakers should consider placing lower caps on the amount of benefits employees can cash out when they leave state government in light of Callery's payment.

Chief Medical Examiner Richard T. Callery was allowed to collect on hundreds of hours in unused leave even after the state’s top criminal prosecutor told lawmakers last May that Callery was “absent for large, large periods of time” conducting a private consulting business.

"I'm not pleased he's getting the $75,000," Bonini said. "We need to look at those policies. I thought that stuff was capped at lower levels than that."

Markell also supports changes that could prevent large benefit payments.

"We need to look at how those rules can be amended to prevent this situation from recurring," Markell spokesman Jonathon Dworkin said.

Reporters Jessica Masulli Reyes and Cris Barrish contributed to this story. Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.