State drops case against chemist Farnam Daneshgar
State chemist Farnam Daneshgar has been cleared a year after he was arrested in connection with evidence tampering and theft in Delaware's drug lab.
Court records show the last remaining charges – marijuana and paraphernalia possession – against Daneshgar were dropped by a state prosecutor May 1.
When Daneshgar and a second drug lab employee were indicted last May, then-Attorney General Beau Biden called it the beginning of holding "individuals accountable for significant damage that has been caused to the integrity of our criminal justice system."
However, the state's case against the 54-year-old Wilmington man unraveled this year.
It began in February when on the eve of trial, Deputy Attorney General Victoria Witherell dropped charges alleging Daneshgar falsified business records at the drug lab.
She said in a letter to Judge William C. Carpenter that while preparing for trial she could not identify any written drug lab policies Daneshgar violated.
The trial proceeded on far less serious allegations that Daneshgar had 0.23 grams of marijuana in his bedside nightstand.
During a two-day trial, Delaware State Police detectives testified that Daneshgar should have been able to smell the small amount of marijuana found in his nightstand on May 20 because his job at the lab was to analyze drugs.
But Daneshgar's family testified he was adamant about his step-children not having marijuana in the house. The defense raised the possibility that the marijuana fell into the drawer when his step-daughter took coins from a cup.
A jury in Superior Court in Wilmington deliberated for three hours, but could not reach a verdict.
When a jury is hung, the judge orders a mistrial. The state then decides if it will retry the case or drop the charges.
Even though that the state has dropped all the charges against Daneshgar, it is still unclear if he will return to his $67,428-a-year job in the lab.
A spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security would only confirm that Daneshgar is still suspended without pay.
Daneshgar's attorney, Joe Hurley, could not be reached for comment Monday.
James Woodson, the second employee arrested by Delaware State Police, is also suspended without pay from his $42,884-a-year job as a forensic investigator.
He is facing charges for felony trafficking cocaine, tampering with physical evidence and theft of controlled dangerous substances charges; and misdemeanor official misconduct and unlawful dissemination of criminal history information charges.
His trial in April was postponed and has not been rescheduled.
Since the drug lab scandal broke a year ago, investigators found that more than 50 pieces of drug evidence had been tampered with at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner between 2010 and 2014.
The lab was reorganized and renamed the Division of Forensic Science under the direction of the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
The state hired Michael J. Wolf, who has experience turning around troubled drug labs in other states, to head the new division. Dr. Richard Callery, the former chief medical examiner, was fired, but has not been charged.
Contact Jessica Masulli Reyes at 302-324-2777, jmreyes@delawareonline.com or Twitter @JessicaMasulli.