Wisconsin residents are sometimes charged with possessing drugs when they are innocent. This can happen because police use preliminary drug tests on suspicious substances that they find. A case in Florida indicates the problems the preliminary tests may cause.
A man has filed a lawsuit against the city of Orlando and a manufacturer of preliminary drug tests that can be used by law enforcement officers out in the field. According to the civil complaint, the man spent 10 hours in jail, had to post $2,500 bond and was initially charged with possession of methamphetamine for a substance that was reportedly glaze from a Krispy Kreme donut.
The plaintiff alleges that he was pulled over for allegedly committing a minor traffic offense in December 2015. Upon the stop, the officer reportedly requested permission to search the man’s vehicle, and he said that he consented. During the search, the officer allegedly picked up a piece of donut glaze that had fallen on the man’s floor and said it was meth after first saying it was crack cocaine. The man reports that he told her it was donut glaze. She used the preliminary drug test to test the glaze and reportedly obtained two false positives. When the sample was sent to the forensic lab for testing, it came back weeks later showing that the substance was indeed donut glaze and contained no illegal drugs.
A person who has been charged with drug possession could be facing serious consequences if a conviction is obtained. Accordingly, it may be advisable for people in this situation to obtain the assistance of a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible so that a strategy to combat the allegations can be built.
Source: The Huffington Post, “Man jailed in doughnut glaze-meth mix-up sues city, drug test company,” Steven Hoffer, Oct. 25, 2016.
