Spaghettios? Methamphetamine? Can you tell the difference?

[Darrell KSR]

Failure to tell the difference cost this lady a month of her liberty...

http://m.nydailynews.com/news/national/ga-woman-jailed-cops-confused-spaghettios-meth-article-1.1957736?utm_content=buffer38d8a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=NYDN+Facebook

[blueboss]

I heard a similar story where a guy got arrested for dried up diced onions from a hot dog that were found in the seat cushion of his car and believed to be crack cocaine.

[Doc]

After seeing her picture, I'd have guessed methamphetamine too.

Wonder if she needs a lawyer cause I suspect she has a strong case. There are simple tests to identify methamphetamine

[suncat05]

I know a couple of attorneys that specialize in suing the po-lice, and they usually win.

[CitizenBBN]

The problem here doesn't seem to lie w the police but the system and how the innocent till proven guilty part seems to be suspended while awaiting test results.

I'd have guessed meth too. Part of it is on her though for missing a court date. The courts don't like that.

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[dan_bgblue]

I suspect there was a legit reason for missing the court date. Anyone that is eating that crap in a car probably does not have much money and may have not wanted to be absent from work. The system failed her when the test on the "residue" took that long. As Doc said there are simple tests for meth, and I am actually surprised the police department does not issue the officers field kits to test for it.

If she chooses to press the issue, I think it will be costly for the city/county

[CitizenBBN]

I suspect there was a legit reason for missing the court date. Anyone that is eating that crap in a car probably does not have much money and may have not wanted to be absent from work. The system failed her when the test on the "residue" took that long. As Doc said there are simple tests for meth, and I am actually surprised the police department does not issue the officers field kits to test for it.

If she chooses to press the issue, I think it will be costly for the city/county

I agree. In fact it's not clear why she even had a court date when there was absolutely no evidence against her at that point. She was RoR, why not wait for the results before requiring anything else of her? if she was guilty she was going to no-show, so that court date only impacted her if she was innocent. Like you said, she probably had a good reason to not go.

Missing the date is a legit reason for a bench warrant, but I see no reason for the court date at that point. That's where I think the "innocent till proven guilty" part seems to have been tucked in a drawer somewhere.

[KeithKSR]

Irresponsible police work and a flawed judicial process cost this lady freedom, and money. She was ordered to seek drug counseling with no evidence a problem existed. The worst part is all they had to do is take a wet q-tip and remove a little residue from the spoon to test it.