US woman jailed for 3 months after police mistake candy floss for meth

  • 28/11/2018
US woman jailed for 3 months after police mistake candy floss for meth
Photo credit: CNN

A US woman spent three months in jail after a drug test showed police that a bag of blue candy floss in her car contained methamphetamine.

Dasha Fincher remained was trapped in jail for three months, and says she missed several life events such as the births of her twin grandsons, and her daughter's miscarriage. 

She also alleges she was denied medical attention for a broken hand and an ovarian cyst.

She has now filed a lawsuit against Monroe County, in her home state of Georgia. The lawsuit includes three officers involved for wrongful imprisonment and violating her civil rights.

The lawsuit also targets Sirchie Acquisition Company, the maker of the field testing kit used by the police officers.

According to the lawsuit, Ms Fincher was a passenger in a car that was pulled over by two of Monroe County Sheriff's Deputies on December 31, 2016.

Initially, the car was stopped because the deputies thought the tinting on the car windows was too dark. When they asked to search the vehicle they discovered a "large, open clear plastic bag which contained a light blue substance, spherical in shape".

Both Ms Fincher and the driver, her boyfriend, explained that the bag contained candy floss. However, when police tested it, it tested positive for methamphetamine.

Both Ms Fincher and her boyfriend were arrested for possession and trafficking of methamphetamine, despite their insistence that it was only candyfloss.

A judge set Ms Fincher's bail at $1 million, due to the trafficking charge. Ms Fincher had no option but to remain in jail as the candy floss was sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for further testing.

On March 22, 2017, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a report saying there were "no controlled substances confirmed" in the candy floss.

However, Ms Fincher's lawsuit claims she was kept in jail for almost a fortnight after the report.

Ms Fincher told CNN that she has "lost a lot I can't get back".

"Three months is a long time."

Newshub.