Alexandra Mendez: Florida Innocence Project cites her 2014 case as "the fastest exoneration ever" - she had been convicted for possession of cocaine, but lab tests of the material revealed it was not in fact a controlled substance, and her conviction was quickly overturned. Innocence Project of Florida; (The white powder the police had seized from her had field-tested positive for cocaine). "Plain News."

POST: "Remembering last years successes: Exoneration records in 2014,"  by Samantha Adams, published in "Plain News" by the Innocence Project of Florida."

GIST:  ".Besides the high number of exonerations overall, 2014 saw many other noteworthy improvements and successes in the exoneration process. For example, Alexandra Mendez was exonerated on August 22, 2014, only 3 days after her conviction—the fastest exoneration ever. She had been convicted for possession of cocaine, but lab tests of the material revealed it was not in fact a controlled substance, and her conviction was quickly overturned. "

The entire post can  be found at:

http://floridainnocence.org/content/?p=11956

See National Registry of  Exonerations account: "On June 26, 2014, police in Houston, Texas arrested 18-year-old Alexandra Mendez after they seized white powder from her that field-tested positive for cocaine. On August 19, 2014, Mendez pled guilty in Harris County Criminal District Court to possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to six months in Texas State Jail. The following day, the Harris County District Attorney’s Post Conviction Review Unit learned that the Houston Police crime laboratory tests on the powder were negative for controlled substances. The prosecution joined with Mendez’s attorney to file a motion to vacate the conviction on August 20, 2014. The motion was granted that day and Mendez was released. On August 22, 2014, the charge was dismissed."

http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4611 

See Radley Balko's post on field tests gone awry:  "A partial list of things that field-testing drug kits have mistakenly identified as contraband."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/02/26/a-partial-list-of-things-that-field-testing-drug-kits-have-mistakenly-identified-as-contraband/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
 
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
 
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.
 
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;