COMMERCE, Ga. – A Georgia woman spent nearly a month behind bars after police mistakenly identified residue from SpaghettiO’s on a spoon as methamphetamine, highlighting concerns about field testing procedures and wrongful detentions.
Ashley Gabrielle Huff, 23, was released from Hall County Jail in September 2014 after crime lab results confirmed that the suspicious substance found in her vehicle during a routine traffic stop was nothing more than leftover pasta sauce residue.
The incident began in July when Huff was pulled over by Commerce police officers. During the vehicle inspection, officers found a spoon with a dried residue that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
Despite Huff’s insistence that the residue was from canned pasta she had eaten in her car, she was arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine.
Unable to make bail and maintaining her innocence, Huff remained in custody for more than three weeks while awaiting the results of a comprehensive laboratory analysis.
The young woman faced a difficult choice between pleading guilty to secure an earlier release or waiting in jail for the lab results to prove her innocence.
“I think she said it had been SpaghettiOs,” Hall County assistant public defender Chris van Rossem said. “From what I understand, she was a passenger in a car and had a spoon on her, and I guess the officer, for whatever reason, thought there was some residue.”
The case highlights the limitations of field drug testing kits, which have been known to produce false positives for common substances.
These tests have previously mistaken everything from soap to candy for illegal drugs, raising questions about their reliability in determining probable cause for arrest.
During her weeks in custody, Huff missed work and faced the stigma of a drug charge, despite having no prior drug-related offenses on her record.
The charges were finally dropped on September 18, 2014, when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab conclusively determined the substance was consistent with pasta sauce residue.
Legal experts pointed out that such incidents can have lasting impacts on individuals’ lives, even after their names are cleared.
“The issue is that the field tests are not infallible, and there’s a possibility for innocent people to be arrested,” said van Rossem.
The public defender’s office emphasized the importance of waiting for definitive lab results before pursuing prosecution in similar cases.
The incident also raised concerns about the bail system, as Huff’s inability to post bond meant she had to remain in custody while awaiting test results that would ultimately prove her innocence.
Following her release, Huff’s case gained attention as an example of how ordinary items can lead to wrongful arrests and the importance of thorough laboratory testing in drug cases.
The Hall County District Attorney’s office formally dismissed all charges against her after reviewing the crime lab’s findings.
Law enforcement officials acknowledged the incident as unfortunate but maintained that officers followed standard procedures for suspected drug cases. The department later reviewed its field testing protocols to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Editor’s Note: This article is based on events that occurred in Commerce, Georgia in 2014. The details have been sourced from public records and statements from the Hall County Public Defender’s Office.