A man who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for possession of cocaine, was cleared of all charges after laboratory analysis confirmed the substance was actually powdered milk.
29-year-old Cody Gregg of Oklahoma city was arrested August 12, due to the fact that he didn’t have the rear lights on the bike.
After a short chase the officer who detained him, searched the backpack Gregg and found a transparent bag containing «some white powder». The officer conducted a «preliminary analysis» which showed that the powder «may contain cocaine.» Gregg brought charges of drug possession and imprisoned in the County jail.
According to court records, on first appearance in court Gregg pleaded not guilty, but did so after about two months in jail. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
And only after the verdict, the laboratory analysis showed that the suspicious substance was actually powdered milk. According to the guy, he pled guilty to get out of County jail before the verdict.
Jail County Oklahoma is known for its poor conditions: from mould to overcrowding and a very high suicide rate.
Many experts criticized the use of «field testing», also known as pre-testing to help the police to identify drugs in the field events.
As noted in the report Centre of advanced technologies of forensic examination, National Institute of justice, published in may 2018, the pre-test is used to establish «the possibility that a drug may be present» and therefore can lead to false data.
