Cops Mistake Vitamins for Opioids and Jail Innocent Mom for Months

Full title is: Taxpayers to Be Held Liable After Cops Mistake Vitamins for Opioids and Jail Innocent Mom for Months

Check the link below for a video interview with Rebecca. Stuff like this is a big big miscarriage of justice IMO. The drug kits the police are using to convict people are so bad that the results are inadmissible in a court of law according to the article. It took seven long months for an independent lab to verify her pills were indeed vitamins...

Three years ago, Rebecca’s car ran out of gas and she was stranded on the side of the road. When an officer pulled up behind her she was hoping that she would get some help. However, instead, she was wrongfully accused of a crime, kidnapped, and thrown in a cage away from her family for five months.

“My kids were devastated. I was away for five months. I cried constantly,” Shaw told FOX 13 News.

Shaw is now suing the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the manufacturer of the faulty drug test kit used to steal her freedom.

“This is a lucrative business for these manufacturers to be peddling their faulty products to law enforcement agencies. They’re lucrative and they know these tests are not working,” said Caitlin Costa, Shaw’s attorney.

The original incident happened in September of 2015 and Shaw, not thinking that she was doing anything wrong, made a mistake and allowed the officer to search her car. When he did, he found vitamins and accused her of having oxycodone.

www.activistpost.com...

In fact, tens of thousands have been convicted and served time — even earning the black mark of a felony — for crimes they likely didn’t commit, according to a report, because the cases against them relied on horribly unreliable field drug test kits.

a reply to: 727Sky

Police don't know their arse from there elbow.

An incompetent shower of bastards really.

Hopefully, the Woman manages to piece her life back together without further harassment.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: 727Sky

Police don't know their arse from there elbow.

An incompetent shower of bastards really.

Hopefully, the Woman manages to piece her life back together without further harassment.

I have known more than my fair share of police, ICE, and DEA simply because I used to shoot with them in competition. Most (I can only think of a few) were good decent guys.. These police in the article are given a test kit and are told to use it. They use the kit and the results are positive.. what is a cop to do..?

I would be more interested in who has made the decision to use the faulty kits to begin with.. Are there multiple kick backs going on for using a POS product etc etc.

a reply to: 727Sky

I could sacrifice a few months in jail for the kind of cash she is gonna get.

It sucks though. Not just with this but people are popped with false positives all the time. Then you get situations like the lady in Boston that was faking test results to convict people and taking drugs home for like 10 years.

Everyday people are at the mercy of the system

a reply to: 727Sky

"what is a cop to do..?"

Use his judgment a little better, or at least if in dought test the substance again?

The Woman did time because of the fool when she should have received his assistance!

This i was only doing my job crap is the same garbage the SS tried to pull after WW2.

Police are there to uphold the law and protect people not incarcerate innocents for Vitamin possession.

a reply to: 727Sky

An apology and a five million dollars for every month she spent locked up should suffice.

a reply to: andy06shake

Good point.
Just doing their job.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Those uniforms pretty much give some people free rein to do as they wish.

And a good workman never blames his tools, which i imagine said test would qualify as.

Seems like someone never had the time nor inclination to establish the ladies innocence to me.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: TinySickTears

Those uniforms pretty much give some people free rein to do as they wish.

And a good workman never blames his tools, which i imagine said test would qualify as.

Seems like someone never had the time nor inclination to establish the ladies innocence to me.

I hate that attitude of just doing their job.

I also hate the it's the law crowd. The law is the law.


Not advocating for violence and chaos but aside from like rape, murder, and crimes against kids most things should contain a gray area where discretion and circumstance play a role.

Badly written and randomly enforced laws

a reply to: TinySickTears

Poorly trained Police officers with little to no psychological screening probably contribute to the problem immensely.

The Job simply attracts the wrong sort of people.

Not that there are not good Police, but one bad Apple, or 1000s as the case may be, does indeed spoil the batch where such a profession is concerned.

What!? You mean mothers get seperated from their children! Say it aint so!

How can they hold her without charging her for so long. No bail hearing? Its madness.

a reply to: 727Sky

It's Florida. What does one expect from such a shining beacon of full on corruption and idiocy?

What makes this even more disgusting is that she did nothing to warrant any search.

Out of gas hoping the officer may lend a hand instead he wants to search her car so he can make an arrest.


Why do cops have a bad name... because they deserve it.

Never give permission for law enforcement to enter or search you car or home, she made a foolish decision and paid dearly for it.

pills have certain identifying marks on them to tell you what they are. the field test can still be used, but ffs, just look up pill identifier online and see if the markings on the pill match oxycodone, is it that hard?

a reply to: 727Sky

Makes no sense. Cops arent our friends.

They are like HR employees. They are there to avoid problems for their company. They ARE NOT your friend and should it come down to it, they will make you out to be an enemy worthy of their worst.

Many cops are good and I dont care anymore if they are on a personal level outside of their job. I am a good person and yet human enough to ruin someones life. Lets not play dumb.

Doing good is what makes you good. Our people are arbitrarily fined, heavily taxed, sanctioned, arrested, molested, beaten and shot and more, much more.

Cops need be less of a bunch of bitches!!!!, risk their jobs and refuse to do things that are not aligned with the spirit of the law, not its technicalities.

If not, I see no reason to consider them our allies.

They threaten to take off their badges and walk away if our cities dont drop their pants to the rapist unions they employ. Yet, they cant use that power to protect us from corrupt leadership....

"Fellow citizens" is not what we see. In fact what we see is an enforcer class trying to maintain the whitewash of "public service". Public servants normally dont just do whatever they want and then retire rich....just a WTF for you all before I go.

If our leaders were truly guilty, would these boys in blue go get them or would they go get us so our leaders are safe?

Who does their oath belong to?

originally posted by: annoyedpharmacist
pills have certain identifying marks on them

Pills are compressed powder and can be crushed and formed in any pill mold. Oxys are commonly faked for black market by crushing up oxy and cutting it with corn starch and fentanyl to stretch it out to max profits. Not all of the black market pill manufacturers are using the appropriately stamped molds.

a reply to: 727Sky

Stuff like this is a big big miscarriage of justice IMO.

Stuff like this has been happening to the poor and minority's of this country for as long as I have been alive.

I personally have a drug charge on my record for drugs I didn't have. I wasn't even in the car the cops claim to have pulled me over in. I was deep in the woods at the time.

It's the only criminal charge I have and it has kept me from getting two good jobs so far.

It will be great to see someone get some justice for once so I hope she wins.

This country needs to have a real conversation about police over reach and abuse.

I worry about this because I carry those keychains with pill cases in them for my epilepsy meds. I don't actually carry the prescription/bottle with me so I could not prove what they are.

5 months for Vitamin possession!

What the hell.

Yes people we must put an end to the vitamin crisis!

It's for the children!