DOVER — A Sussex County couple has sued the state, several employees and two agencies in connection with reported widespread internal misconduct that brought dissolution of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Forensic Sciences Laboratory in 2014.

According to the 27-page lawsuit filed on Jan. 13, Jermaine Dollard spent nearly three years in prison after a wrongful conviction based on mishandling of alleged drug evidence that later led to dropped charges and release by the Delaware Department of Justice.

Court documents stated that while the medical examiner’s controlled substances laboratory initially had deemed a powdery substance found in Mr. Dollard’s car during a June 13, 2012, traffic stop to be cocaine, a retest in November 2014 showed the bricks held in evidence were powdered sugar.

In the October trial of Mr. Dollard, a medical examiner chemist testified evidence found in the vehicle tested to be cocaine; Mr. Dollard was convicted on Nov. 6, 2013, of aggravated possession of Tier 5 cocaine, drug dealing of Tier 4 cocaine, and second-degree conspiracy, all felonies, and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

On Jan. 14, 2014, Mr. Dollard was sentenced to separate consecutive 10-year prison sentences, according to the lawsuit. He appealed the conviction and 20-year sentence to the Delaware Supreme Court. more