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HOUSTON - 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."
In 2010, Albritton brought her son, who has cerebral palsy, to visit a doctor in Houston. While he was at the hotel, she and a friend went out to get some food. They were pulled over by Houston police.
"They said we didn't turn our blinker on," Albritton said.
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 Harris County 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.
This same thing happened to the kid that accused of "poisoning" an officers food at the fast food restaurant. It happens all the time with drug dogs. They hit but there is nothing there.
I can sympathize with her because having a kid with CP has gotta put the stress on you but if your attorney tells you to plead guilty without having the lab run another test you really need a new lawyer.
I can sympathize with her because having a kid with CP has gotta put the stress on you but if your attorney tells you to plead guilty without having the lab run another test you really need a new lawyer.
1) How on earth should an ordinary person know that?
2) Article doesn't say, but I wonder whether the attorney was a public defender.
It sure is a good thing our police and politicians care SO much about drugs
Police have known for a long time that field drug tests are at best - faulty.
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