Field Tests of Alleged Controlled Substances Leave Room for Reasonable Doubt
Conventional wisdom says that, when police pull you over on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you should give as little evidence as the law requires. If the police ask to search your vehicle, do not consent. Even if the police do collect evidence after arresting you, there is room for reasonable doubt about most of it. Breathalyzers used at traffic stops can accurately measure blood alcohol content (BAC) if properly calibrated, but some defendants have been acquitted of DUI charges when they persuaded the court that police had administered the breathalyzer test inaccurately, leading to an incorrect result. Field tests that attempt to measure sobriety through tasks like walking an imaginary tightrope are unreliable, since so many factors besides intoxication could lead a person to perform poorly. There are no breathalyzer tests that prove active intoxication by substances other than alcohol. Even the test kits that police use to test powders and pills confiscated from drivers’ cars at traffic stops often yield false positive results. If prosecutors allege, based on a field test kit result, that the substance police took from your car during a traffic stop was an illicit drug, contact a Florida drug offenses attorney.
When Roadside Test Kits Cannot Tell the Difference Between Cocaine and Ketamine
In early 2025, the son of a NBA superstar was arrested after his car stalled on train tracks in Maitland. The officer who stopped to investigate noted that the individual seemed intoxicated; he arrested the individual on suspicion of DUI and related offenses, including drug possession. During a search of the vehicle, the officer found a white powder and tested it with a field test kit; this result showed that the powder was cocaine. Therefore, the state processed the individual’s charge as possession of cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance.
Later, the forensics lab tested the same powder and identified it as ketamine, a Schedule III controlled substance widely used by anesthesiologists. This changes the charges that the individual is facing but may or may not affect the outcome of his case. If police confiscated a substance from you, and the test results about what substance it was are inconsistent, this could affect your defense strategy. To be acquitted of a criminal charge, it is not necessary to prove definitively that you did not break any laws. You must only prove that there is doubt about the allegations that police are making against you. The inconsistency of the test results about the identity of the substance in your possession could help cast doubt on the accusations, especially if it is only one of multiple inconsistencies or errors in the way the police handled your case.
Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Drug Cases
A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing drug charges after a traffic stop, but the prosecution cannot get their story straight about which controlled substance was in your possession. Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
people.com/marcus-jordan-cocaine-possession-charge-changed-to-ketamine-possession-reports-11687591
