UCF Student Jailed After 'Huffing' In DUI Crash

A 20-year-old University of Central Florida (UCF) student was sent to prison for killing someone in a DUI crash, but he wasn't drunk, he was high from huffing. Huffing means inhaling the contents of an aerosol can.

The Florida Highway Patrol said this is the first huffing arrest they ever remember making.

Corporal Diane Riberdy deals with traffic homicides every week, but she has never seen a case like this.

"Something wasn't right about it," Riberdy said.

She said, in October of 2006, 20-year-old Malcolm Barnes did not appear drunk after he hit and killed 19-year-old Andrew Brannon.

"I just couldn't let it go," she said.

The detective went back to the tow yard the next day and found two cans of "Dust Off," a spray for cleaning computer keyboards. When inhaled, it can cause a person to black out and Riberdy thinks that's what happened in this case, so she drove the blood sample to a University of Florida lab and, as expected, it came back with a chemical found in Dust Off.

State troopers are used to testing for DUI with a breathalyzer, but not for Diflouroethane and that's why they are proud of the officer's good police work that found the individual had been huffing. Barnes said he blacked out and never admitted to inhaling Dust Off, but the test showed otherwise.

"If I wouldn't have found the Dust Off and the chemical in his blood he would have just gotten a ticket," she said.

Corporal Riberdy was upset the state allowed a plea deal of vehicular homicide instead of DUI manslaughter and a sentence of 18 months, but the victim's family said late Friday afternoon they appreciate the trooper's hard work to get justice.

The victim’s mother, Judith Brannon, said she isn't happy with the 18-month sentence, but did ask for Barnes to do 150 hours of community service, giving talks to kids about the dangers of drugs. The judge agreed to that suggestion.