Antonio Hernandez Carranza, man arrested as tortilla powder mistaken for cocaine
ASHEVILLE — Antonio Hernandez Carranza took a wrong turn, and it turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes he’s ever made.
The Carson, Calif., man had driven more than 2,000 miles — three days straight — to see his sister in Johnson City, Tenn.
But instead of reaching the home of his sister, whom he hadn’t seen in nearly a decade, the 45-year-old carpet cleaner found himself in the Buncombe County jail under a $300,000 bond on charges of driving while intoxicated, failing to heed police lights and sirens and possession of 91 pounds of cocaine.
He was released four days later after sheriff’s deputies realized Hernandez, who said he doesn’t drink at all, wasn’t intoxicated and that what was in the back of his truck was exactly what he had said — $400 worth of cheese, shrimp and tortilla and tamale dough meant as a gift to his sister.
Now struggling to reclaim his truck and dog that were taken away, Hernandez said he wants only to see his family and possibly get some compensation for his time and expenses.
While in jail, he called his wife, Bernice, to tell her that he could be facing 40 years in prison and may never see her or their two boys again.
“She and the kids were crying. She was inconsolable,” Hernandez said through an interpreter.
Local residents affiliated with Latino advocacy groups say Hernandez, a legal resident who understands a fair amount of English but doesn’t speak it well, was targeted because of his ethnicity.
Deputies said Hernandez appeared drunk and they acted quickly to get narcotics test results after he was jailed.
Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Randy Smart acknowledged that four days in jail under an extremely high bond seemed a stiff penalty for failing to heed police lights and sirens, of which Hernandez was found guilty.
“It’s one of those things when you go back and look at it, it does seem a little harsh,” the Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.
Read the rest of the article: http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110507/NEWS/305070023/Man-jailed-tortilla-dough
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US justice system + the police = the biggest, dirtiest, corrupt gang in the world.
They are trying to build probable cause to make an arrest or use a breathalyzer. They really do try to collect as much evidence as possible before going to the breathalyzer, and breathalyzers have limitations too (calibration issues, if you’ve had a drink in the last 20 minutes can throw it off, mouth-wash).
They have to establish that you were impaired in as bullet-proof way as possible so that your lawyer can’t poke any holes in their case.
My understanding is that they do it because there are constitutional problems with going straight to the brethalyser, even though it would be far faster, more accurate, and more convenient to use the brethalyser. I’m sure the cops would love to use it instead, but if they’re under a legal restriction it’s a bit hard to hassle them over it.
These ‘tools’ legitimatize their abuse and is used as catch all for arresting people the officer just doesn’t like.
Polygraph, Field sobriety tests, forensics, presumptive field tests, all this voodoo science shit the cops use as tools to do their job don’t always give a true result. Especially the field tests for drugs, there are so many ways to get a false positive that they are worthless except when used as a tool to coerce/manipulate a suspect (not to find the truth). I was given a field sobriety test the other day (still never had a DUI in my life) and much like the many others I’ve been given before, it was highly subjective and led to no conclusion until the breathalyser was given. Almost as unreliable as the “pupil chart” (which cops pull out to determine which drugs you are high on), the field sobriety test only works when you are piss drunk and inexperienced. Cops use these tools for expediency on the job, but they should know better than to use BS only and not cover their ass also. At least the Texas cops brought in dogs so they would have more certainty (than a field test) that drugs were actually present. If the Tenn. cops had just brought in a dog this would not have happened (although corrupt handlers can bring about false alerts, but thats another topic), now they look incompetent.
Is that why I lose my appetite after I eat a bunch of tortillas?
cocaine makes the best tortillas ever
We’ve thought about it, but we were afraid it would keep poor people out of the courts. A really good lawyer could get some jerk off of something he actually did, and the plaintiff would be stuck with the bill.
A big smurf….the name made me laugh and then I read your comment which made me cry
It is traditionally the belief of policemen that they can tell what a substance is by sniffing it and then gingerly tasting it, but this practice had ceased in the Watch ever since Constable Flint had dipped his finger into a blackmarket consignment of ammonium chloride cut with radium, said “Yes, this is definitely slab wurble wurble sclup,” and had to spend three days tied to his bed until the spiders went away.
The dog part bugged me the most. You do not take a man’s dog
The cops charged him with a DUI but his family said he doesn’t drink.
They also took his truck and his dog.
If they don’t compensate him for what they essentially robbed him of, then they belong in jail.
What makes you think that commenting on a comment which only discusses a component of the story obligates responders to discuss the entire story?
It’s a pretty major part of the story.
Oh yeah, the cops f***ed up that part. But the post I was responding to was expressing indigence at his arrest, not his treatment in custody.
Reasonable argument.
Now how do you feel about their attitude at the end of the weekend.
You know, once they realize they have roughed up and falsely imprisoned someone, threatened an innocent man with 40 years in jail, necessitated a towing and holding charge and destroyed his property?
How do you think they handled that?
I see the injustice of the situation from an arm chair hindsight position.
Think about it like this: pretend you’re a cop examining a powdery substance and your field test just registered positive. Are you really going to let him go?
Look, I’m not a cop so I might not understand exactly what goes through their minds when they see tortilla dough with shrimp in it but if you don’t see the lunacy of this situation then you should probably turn in your badge.
The article seems to imply a field test was done, and that they made a lab test a high priority here.
Why do you think we still have lab tests despite the availability of field tests? Field tests aren’t infallabe.
That reminds me. My wife who is Colombian was taking a trip back to her home country and was just about to pack a baggie of oxylclean powder to give to her mom (apparently they don’t have it there). I freaked at her and told her that it was going to get her a glove up the ass!
Brownish? LOL
If the driver is brownish and has plastic bags in his car, he’s a drug trafficker. That’s what they learn.
so… cops cant tell the difference between flour/dough and actual drugs? Dont cops get basic training when it comes to drugs?
you wouldn’t eat shrimp that was sitting in a truck driven from California to North Carolina?
Shrimp – Not even once.
I’d be more worried about the shrimp
“91 pounds of tortilla flour? My God! He’s even more Mexican than we thought! It’s a good thing we stopped him in time.”
I know, wishful thinking my friend.
But the idea of considering the costs of your actions is far to dangerous a risk for the government that wishes to be a part of your day to day life.
Well if we had one, the state would have to pay of it lost for bringing false charges (no second trial)
We have one. But it only pays if the state wins.
Imagine if we implemented a Loser Pay system in the US…
“I asked in court, ‘Who’s going to pay me for what I lost?’ They said, ‘I don’t know. It’s not my problem’” F***ERS