Police Mistook Cotton Candy for Meth. She Spent 3 Months in Jail for Their Error

[roadmaster]

A Georgia woman spent more than three months in jail on drug charges after sheriff’s deputies mistook congealed cotton candy they found in a car she was riding in for methamphetamine.
A state crime lab eventually showed that they were wrong. Now, she’s suing.
In the lawsuit, filed this month, Dasha Fincher alleges that she was wrongfully arrested and incarcerated in December 2016, when she and her boyfriend were pulled over by Monroe County sheriff’s deputies. The deputies found a blue, crystal-like substance in a bag on a floorboard in the car and evaluated it using a roadside test kit, which seemed to confirm that it was methamphetamine.
Fincher said it was most likely 2-day-old cotton candy discarded by the children of her friend, from whom she had borrowed the car.

https://www.wral.com/police-mistook-...ror-/18026675/

[Dr. Who]

A Georgia woman spent more than three months in jail on drug charges after sheriff’s deputies mistook congealed cotton candy they found in a car she was riding in for methamphetamine.
A state crime lab eventually showed that they were wrong. Now, she’s suing.
In the lawsuit, filed this month, Dasha Fincher alleges that she was wrongfully arrested and incarcerated in December 2016, when she and her boyfriend were pulled over by Monroe County sheriff’s deputies. The deputies found a blue, crystal-like substance in a bag on a floorboard in the car and evaluated it using a roadside test kit, which seemed to confirm that it was methamphetamine.
Fincher said it was most likely 2-day-old cotton candy discarded by the children of her friend, from whom she had borrowed the car.

https://www.wral.com/police-mistook-...ror-/18026675/

She should also sue the manufacturer of the roadside test kit since it can't tell the difference between sugar and meth!

[Helena]

It's long been known that field tests are faulty. No incentive to fix that problem because the system needs that sweet, sweet revenue.

[roadmaster]

It's long been known that field tests are faulty. No incentive to fix that problem because the system needs that sweet, sweet revenue.

It can happen to anyone and that is why I refuse to allow an officer search my car without a warrant. I remember the woman out of Pasco County that spent 5 months in prison, lost her job, home and away from her children over vitamins in her car that tested falsely for oxycodone. All the woman did is ran out of gas.

[Common]

It's long been known that field tests are faulty. No incentive to fix that problem because the system needs that sweet, sweet revenue.

There is no way any field test can be that off, taking cotton candy for meth. There is some serious incompetence or something sinister going on because that is just absolutely absurd.

Damn shame that woman was imprisoned for that long falsely

[The Xl]

Unacceptable. Prosecutions and massive lawsuits should follow. Justice almost assuredly won't be served, though.

[Helena]

There is no way any field test can be that off, taking cotton candy for meth. There is some serious incompetence or something sinister going on because that is just absolutely absurd.

Damn shame that woman was imprisoned for that long falsely

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/m...e-to-jail.html

[Dr. Who]

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/m...e-to-jail.html

Interesting, so the field test kits are inadmissible as evidence, so how can a person be held for 3 months based on said inadmissible evidence? This PD has a huge problem. They held someone without evidence for 3 months. There is no justification for not completing a scientific spectral analysis within 24 hours. They are guilty of breaching this woman's constitutional rights.

[roadmaster]

Interesting, so the field test kits are inadmissible as evidence, so how can a person be held for 3 months based on said inadmissible evidence? This PD has a huge problem. They held someone without evidence for 3 months. There is no justification for not completing a scientific spectral analysis within 24 hours. They are guilty of breaching this woman's constitutional rights.

If you watch first appearance bond court which I do, field test are what determines bond. The first thing the lawyers do is ask if it was field tested.

[stjames1_53]

There is no way any field test can be that off, taking cotton candy for meth. There is some serious incompetence or something sinister going on because that is just absolutely absurd.

Damn shame that woman was imprisoned for that long falsely

https://www.propublica.org/article/u...d-unchallenged




It happens more often than people realize............