Woman, jailed based on faulty drug test kit, sues

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A woman who says she spent six months in jail as a result of faulty field drug tests is suing the federal government.

For six months, Doyma Michel said she lived a nightmare. 

"I would plead with them, 'please, this is an injustice happening to me,'" Doyma recalled.

She was arrested, booked and charged with having drugs after a field drug test kit showed a liquid in her possession contained meth.

"He said, 'you are arrested,' and I asked, 'why' and he said, 'because you have drugs,'" she explained.

It was June 2014. Doyma was crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, on her way to San Diego.

A boarder patrol agent checked her bag and found a liquid substance. She told the agent it was cuajo, also known as rennet. It's an ingredient used to make cheese, but he didn't believe her.

He tested the liquid with a field drug test kit and it tested positive for meth.  Doyma was immediately thrown in state, and then federal prison, where she spent six long months.

But like so many times before, the field drug test kit got it wrong.  Now Doyma Michel is suing, claiming her rights were violated, causing her emotional and physical distress.

"Yes, I am innocent, I don't have any drugs," Doyma said.

She is suing the federal government for malicious and reckless actions against her, and for not properly training agents on how to use and read the field reagent tests.

The suit also accuses Safariland Group, which made the kit, of showing a "conscious disregard for the true dangers associated with its test kits." 

Last May, during a FOX 13 investigation, top scientists in South Carolina tested several kits from Safariland Group, and the results were eye-opening.

Aspirin, cough medicine, and spices like oregano were mistaken for drugs by the tests. Even air triggered a false positive result.

It was one of those tests that turned Doyma's world upside down. Now, she is looking for accountability in the form of justice.