MONROE COUNTY, GA (RNN) - A Georgia woman is suing after she spent months in jail for a false positive on a drug test, which caused her to miss the birth of two of her grandchildren, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Dasha Fincher filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday related to her time in jail, which began as a traffic stop on Dec. 31, 2016, WMAZ reports.
Monroe County deputies Cody Maples and Allen Henderson pulled Fincher over that night, and when they searched her car, they found a large, open plastic bag.
The incident report described the bag’s contents as “a blue crystal-like substance,” according to the AJC.
Fincher told the deputies the bag contained blue cotton candy, but when Maples and Henderson tested the bag using a roadside field test, the results came back positive for methamphetamine.
In addition, Maples wrote in the incident report that Fincher was “shaking” and “very anxious” during the traffic stop, according to the AJC.
Fincher was arrested and charged with meth trafficking and possession of meth with intent to distribute, WMAZ reports.
Fincher’s bond was set at $1 million, and because she couldn’t pay it, she remained in jail for nearly four months, as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tested the bag and its contents.
In March 2017, the GBI lab tests determined the substance in the bag was not an illegal drug but was, indeed, cotton candy, the lawsuit states.
Fincher’s charges were dropped four weeks later in April 2017.
The woman’s lawsuit argues the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office was reckless and negligent and violated her civil rights, according to WMAZ.
It also claims Maples and Henderson were not trained in identifying street drugs nor performing the roadside test.
According to the lawsuit, the test itself has had a history of false positive results, and the blue food coloring used in the cotton candy would likely cause such a result.
Fincher’s lawsuit asks for punitive damages, as well as court fees, the AJC reports. The woman said her time in jail caused her to miss “several serious life events,” including the birth of her grandchildren and her daughter’s miscarriage.
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