Woman jailed after police mistook SpaghettiO sauce on a spoon in her car for meth

Ashley Gabrielle Huff Gainsville SpaghettiOs meth.png

Ashley Gabrielle Huff, 23, was released from jail in Gainsville, Florida, after crime lab analysis confirmed her claim that a spoon she had in a vehicle leading to her arrest did not contain methamphetamine residue but spaghetti sauce.

(screengrab from Buzz 60)

Gainsville, Georgia, police released a woman from jail this month after a lab analysis backed her claims that residue found on a spoon in her car wasn't meth, but was in fact SpaghettiOs sauce.

Officers first detained Ashley Gabrielle Huff on July 2 during a routine traffic stop in Gainesville when they found a spoon with a "suspicious residue" inside her car, the Gainesville Times reports.

The police report obtained by the Times states the officer received consent to search Huff's 1994 Ford Explorer. The officer found a bag with the name "Ashley" printed on it that contained a spoon with a "clear, crystal-like substance," according to the report. The officer described Huff as "nervous."

"It was so stressful," Huff told the Times. "Nobody believed me. I said I had SpaghettiOs on my spoon. Nobody believed that. Everybody thought it was hilarious, but that was exactly what it was."

The officer suspected methamphetamine. "I found it strange that she would eat SpaghettiOs with a metal spoon while riding in a vehicle, and then put the spoon back in a bag," the report reads.

The officer reported he found a glass smoking device in the bag as well before conducting a field test. "I tested the spoon with a field test kit, and the crystal-like substance on the spoon showed a positive indication for methamphetamine," the report reads.

"She's maintained all along that there's no way in hell that's any sort of drug residue or anything like that," Hall County assistant public defender Chris van Rossem, who represents Huff, told the Times.

Huff said the spoon and the SpaghettiOs were from a friend, as she and the other three people in the car were driving to a friend's house in Gainesville. "We had been riding around, and I threw the can in the trash because I was eating them straight out of the can," she told the Times. "I just threw the spoon in my purse because I had borrowed it from a friend -- the can of the SpaghettiOs and the spoon."

Huff, who previously had no criminal history, was sent to Hall County Jail for two days while cops conducted crime lab tests on the spoon. She was also ordered to seek drug counseling while she waited for her results. When she failed to make all of her appointments, she was arrested again, the Times reports. Huff was unable to afford her bail and was put in jail from Aug. 2 until Sept. 18 while her attorney attempted to arrange a plea bargain.

She was released only after the crime lab finally came back with the results of its substance analysis that showed Huff was telling the truth--the residue was spaghetti sauce. "The Crime Lab report showed no controlled substances on the spoon submitted for testing," according to a dismissal signed by Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh.

Jordan Richardson, a visiting legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal that police are within their rights to make an arrest when there is probable cause and that this case is no exception. "The scary thing is that when she (Huff) was confronted with jail and a fine, even though she turned out to be innocent, it was easier to take the punishment," Richardson said.

The Times reports that as a result of her jail time, Huff missed her kids' birthdays and lost her job at Waffle House. KRON 4 reports she is considering legal action.

This article has been corrected to reflect that Huff was arrested in Georgia, not Florida

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.