Faulty Drug Testing May Have Falsely Convicted Thousands in Michigan
Following the revelations, defense attorneys are expected to start contesting drug convictions in the state. Police say they will alert prosecutors about individuals they know may have been wrongly convicted.
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Director of the Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division Jeffrey Nye informed state prosecutors in a letter Wednesday that the department’s drug tests could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that drivers were under the influence of cannabis, The Detroit Metro Times reports. The letter was released less than a week after Michigan State Police stopped conducting marijuana blood testing due to false positive results for THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis. The toxicology tests were unable to differentiate between THC and CBD, a chemical component that is not psychoactive and does not cause intoxication.
According to the Detroit Metro Times, Michigan State Police relied on faulty testing to produce criminal charges in about 3,250 cases since March 2019, in which a driver was allegedly under the influence of marijuana and no other drugs or alcohol. Up to 3,250 individuals may have been wrongly charged and found guilty as a result of flawed testing. Following the revelations, defense attorneys are anticipated to start contesting their clients’ convictions and state police have stated that they will alert prosecutors about individuals who may have been wrongly convicted.
