On February 21, 2013, police in Houston, Texas arrested 22-year-old Henry Baltrip after they seized more than 200 grams of a substance that field-tested positive as codeine.
On February 26, 2013, Baltrip pled guilty in Harris County Criminal District Court to possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
On January 6, 2015, the Harris County Forensic Science Center tested the substance and reported that no controlled substance was found. The lab notified the Harris County District Attorney’s Post Conviction Review Unit, which informed Baltrip’s attorney and joined in a state court petition for a writ of habeas corpus to vacate the conviction.
On April 1, 2015, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writ and vacated the conviction. The prosecution dismissed the charge on May 5, 2015.
– Maurice Possley
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