DOVER — A Dover-area man granted a retrial involving weapons charges was judged not guilty of offenses resulting from a 2013 traffic stop, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Irvan Adams and his mother broke down in tears after Kent County Superior Court Judge Robert B. Young returned the verdict earlier this week, according to defense counsel André Beauregard.
The trial was initially scheduled for three days before a jury, but instead proceeded as a one-day bench trial, Mr. Beauregard said.
The case centered around weapons recovered in a vehicle Mr. Adams was riding in during a traffic stop in Dover three years ago.
The Delaware Supreme Court returned the case to Kent County Superior Court on Sept. 28, 2015, after ruling that an affidavit of testimony was improperly barred from being admitted as evidence.
According to court documents, Mr. Adams’ brother stated in an affidavit on Oct. 8, 2013, that Mr. Adams and another person in a vehicle “had no knowledge that weapons were in the vehicle.”
The affidavit was not allowed into evidence by the court, papers said.
In October 2014, Mr. Adams was convicted of possession of a firearm by person prohibited, possession of ammunition by a person prohibited, carrying a concealed deadly weapon and second-degree conspiracy. He was sentenced to five years of Level V imprisonment.
A new trial was later scheduled after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Mr. Beauregard said his client served approximately one year in prison as the case proceeded.
“The reason why we won the case is that we were persistent in the search for justice,” Mr. Beauregard said. “My client is able to start a new life without prison being a part of his life. He was always good with the youths within our community and he has dedicated his life to make sure other (young children) don’t follow in his footsteps.”