Many people in Texas enjoy glazed doughnuts, but most would not mistake the glaze for crystal methamphetamine. In December 2015, a man in Florida was booked for drug charges after police thought that the sugary flakes that had fallen off of his Krispy Kreme doughnuts were controlled substances. The man’s charges were dropped after lab testing confirmed that the doughnut glaze was not meth.
The man was originally stopped for a traffic violation, but he was accused of drug possession after a police officer noticed a suspicious substance on the floor of his car. Police first mistook the doughnut flakes for crack cocaine, but they eventually concluded that they were crystal meth. A roadside drug test kit that was used to test the doughnut flakes indicated that they contained methamphetamine.
Police charged the man for possession of methamphetamine with a firearm and held him for 10 hours before he posted a $2,500 bond. The man was exonerated after a state crime lab performed further testing on the doughnut flakes. He has since filed a $15,000 lawsuit against the city of Orlando as well as the manufacturer of the roadside drug test kit that was used to put him behind bars.
A criminal defense attorney may be able to represent a person who has been falsely charged with drug possession. The lawyer could help the defendant argue that a positive result on a roadside drug test kit is not sufficient evidence for a conviction. If police searched a person’s car without probable cause, an attorney may argue that the evidence they seized is not admissible in court.
Source: The Huffington Post, “Man Jailed In Doughnut Glaze-Meth Mix-Up Sues City, Drug Test Company,” Steven Hoffer, Oct. 25, 2016
