STORY: "Louisiana woman jailed in Houston after false positive drug test," by reporter Tim Wetzel. published by KBMT on October 28, 2016.
GIST: "A
Louisiana woman blames a false positive field drug test
for ruining her life, and now she's suing the City of Houston, Harris
County, a former district attorney and two police officers for $2.5
million. "It practically took my whole life and turned it upside
down," said Amy Albritton. "People who haven't been through this have no
idea."........The
routine traffic stop turned into something more when officers spotted a
white substance in the vehicle they believed was crack cocaine. The
officers put a sample of the substance in a field drug test kit, and the
kit indicated it tested positive for narcotics. "I knew there was no
cocaine in that car. I was innocent," Albritton said. Albritton was
booked into the Harris County Jail and says she was encouraged by a
public defender to take a plea deal. "He just said it was either two
years' hard labor or 45 days in jail," she said. Albritton says she was
worried about her disabled son and wanted to get back out quickly to be
with him. "I
remember the lady judge asking me several times, 'Are you sure you want
to plead guilty?'" Albritton said. "I didn't think I had a choice." She
was served 21 days in jail, but says her nightmare was just the
beginning. The guilty plea caused her to lose her job. "The
jail experience was pretty bad," Albritton said. "But when I got out of
jail, I realized I had no home, no car, I lost everything." But
field drug tests, like the one that sent Albritton to jail, aren't
always accurate. In fact, the test manufacturers and the Department of
Justice say suspect samples should always be tested again by scientists
in a crime lab. Six months after her arrest, the Houston crime lab
tested the sample found in Albritton's car. They determined it was not a
controlled substance. There were no drugs in Albritton's car, but it
would take years for her to find out authorities had proof she was
innocent. It took three years for the Harris County District
Attorney's office to send her a letter, saying she was convicted in
error. The letter was sent to Albritton's old address, so she never
received it. It took another year for her to find out she was cleared.
"I was like, 'Thank you God,' because I knew I had not done that,"
Albritton said. Inger
Chandler heads up the conviction integrity unit for the Harris County
DA's office. While she can't comment specifically on Amy's case, she
says the office is aware there was a problem. "The idea that we get it wrong and the system sometimes gets it wrong can rock you to the core," Chandler said. Chandler
says she uncovered more than 300 cases where lab results proving
someone's innocence simply sat in unread emails. In some instances, the
crime lab was sending the results, but nobody at the district attorney's
office was seeing them. Chandler says that problem has been fixed. She
says the DA has worked with the public defender's office and helped
clear 140 people who originally pled guilty to drug crimes, even though
there were really no drugs found. "When you have so many humans
involved in something, you have room for human error," Chandler said.
"That's honestly what we found." Chandler says it can be tricky to
locate many of these individuals because they tend to move around a
lot. So far, they have cleared 140 of these cases. The district
attorney's office has also changed its policy on accepting guilty pleas
before confirmatory lab results are returned. While Albritton's name has
been legally cleared, the arrest is still on her record. She says it
has made it tough to find jobs..........Harris County and the City of
Houston referred us to their attorneys, who declined to comment for the
story. In court filings, they argue that Albritton could have checked
public court records herself, to find the DA's letter, indicating she
was innocent. They also argue that the statute of limitations has run
out. But Albritton says she is moving forward with her case, making sure
this doesn't happen to someone else."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.12newsnow.com/news/louisiana-woman-jailed-in-houston-after-false-positive-drug-test/343980815
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.12newsnow.com/news/louisiana-woman-jailed-in-houston-after-false-positive-drug-test/343980815
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
