There were trace amounts of cocaine and marijuana in his system, but something else caught the consider’s eye and convinced her that Rich had tried to cheat the system: his “abnormal” raze of a chemical called creatinine.

Creatinine is a natural by-product of chemical reactions in muscle. Doctors look at creatinine levels to determine kidney functioning. But creatinine is also carefully watched by the courts as a measure of dilution in a urine sample.

A person who drinks a lot of irrigate before a urine test will likely show low levels of creatinine, experts say, and in the world of drug courts, an abnormally low level of the chemical is considered a certain medicine discriminative characteristic.

“Creatinine is not, of course, an illicit substance,” aforesaid Rich’sitting attorney, Charles M. Britt III, who urged Circuit Judge Debra Johnes Riva to free Rich from bridewell at a hearing extreme week. “There is nothing out there showing he ever did anything wrong. We are basing this all on a lot of assumptions.”

Riva was not moved. Riva said she had to put public safety first and was concerned Rich had been out using drugs as long as awaiting sentencing. Drug use leads to crime, she said. Riva ordered Rich held in custody until he is sentenced in his drug case this month.

But Rich likely disposition not exist prosecuted for trying to defraud a urine test — a misdemeanor — because in that place is no solid evidence he tried to cheat. Britt said Rich is a landscaper who naturally drinks lots of water.

It was not immediately known whether the trace amounts of cocaine and marijuana determination exist plenty to violate his probation in a previous drug case. Riva did not mention the record amounts in her written order demanding that he be held in custody.

Prosecution of fake urine cases, or attempts to defraud the system, are fine. In most cases, a somebody have a mind be hit with violating probation and will not have a whole new criminal case, said William J. High, who heads the Manatee County probation office.

Over the years, High said, probation officers have seen it all: from fake staminate genitalia to water tainted fulvid by dint of. food coloring. Sterile urine is sold on the Internet.

High recalled a case in which a person used a friend’s urine to take a test. That urine came hindmost positive according to drugs. The probationer was outraged.

In one pending case, a Bradenton woman, Latesha Spurlock, was caught in October with a soft bottle containing urine, Bradenton police say.

A body politic probation officer, who was monitoring the urine test, said she was suspicious and ordered Spurlock to stand up. When she did, the bottle dropped to the floor, according to police reports.

Spurlock, 27, was arrested and jailed.

The make a charge of defrauding a test is punishable by up to a year in jail.

Sal Rizzo, a test officer for Manatee County, said in court that people who spend money on products to dupe the system are being robbed.

Water, he said, is the best way to cleanse the body. Rizzo did not encourage probationers to cheat, yet.

Drinking lots of water, Rizzo said, testifying at Rich’s hearing, “literally makes it look like they have nothing in them.”

But, in Rich’s case, too much water may have aroused suspicion of the courts.

Britt, the defense attorney, before-mentioned Rich did not have a chance to dilute his system because he took a drug test immediately rear taking a plea deal in his drug case.

“We’re assuming the worst of him, if it be not that he’s done everything asked of him,” Britt said. “That test can mean a whole lot of things. It could mean disappointing things. It could mean nothing.”

Last modified: July 5, 2008 6:18am

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