Charged With Cannabis Use, Acquitted After Doubts About The Sample

A positive drug test can be powerful evidence but the result must be reliably linked to the person charged. In this case, uncertainty over which person supplied the tested sample, led to an acquittal.

Key takeaways

• The dispute concerned whose sample was tested, rather than whether the laboratory detected cannabis. The documents left the court unable to attribute the positive result confidently to the defendant. 
• Two positive reports did not resolve the problem because both relied on the same disputed sample. Neither provided independent confirmation from a separately identified sample. 
• A paperwork discrepancy does not automatically defeat a prosecution. Its effect depends on whether the records, considered together, reliably connect the sample to the accused.