On November 14, 2008, police in Houston, Texas arrested 26-year-old Earnest Bledsoe and charged him with possession of a controlled substance after they seized powder from him that field-tested positive for cocaine.
Three days later, on November 17, 2008, Bledsoe pled guilty in Harris County Criminal District Court and was sentenced to 60 days in the Harris County Jail.
In 2015, the Harris County District Attorney’s Conviction Review Section learned that the Houston Police Department Crime Laboratory tested the substance in April 2010 and no drugs were found.
The prosecution notified Bledsoe’s attorney and joined in the filing of a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus in June, 2015 requesting that the conviction be vacated. In July 2015, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the petition and vacated the conviction. On August 26, 2015, the prosecution dismissed the charge.
– Maurice Possley
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