Bride, caterer accused of weeding wedding food

Alanis Morisette never sang about weed on a wedding day, but there was some good advice for a Florida bride and caterer they just didn’t heed.

Here’s the story, via CNN and various other media reports: Bride Danya Shea Svoboda, 42, and caterer Joycelyn Montrinice Bryant, 31, “have been charged with culpable negligence, supplying marijuana and violating Florida’s Anti-Tampering Act” from a wedding in Longwood, Fla. in February, which turned into a serious buzzkill.

According to CNN, Svoboda and Bryant were “arrested and charged with spiked wedding dishes, including lasagna, and sickening several guests.”

The affidavit states that the bride “consented to allowing Joycelyn Montrinice Bryant to flavor the food she was serving with cannabis without the knowledge of those present, many of whom became very ill and required medical attention.”

MPs arrived at a Longwood community clubhouse that evening to find several guests receiving medical attention.

For some, the evening was anything but magical.

CNN, which details the affidavit, reported that “a woman who attended the wedding told an investigator that she felt paranoid during her hospitalization and ‘believed that her husband … wasn’t telling her the truth about other family members.’ ‘ and so on. Her son-in-law had died and no one told her.” She also said she “became loud and unruly in the ER and had to be put on medication to calm down,” according to CNN.

The investigators and the wedding guests themselves apparently could not get clear answers from the newlyweds.

CNN says that when “a deputy asked Danya and her husband, Andrew Svoboda, if they had requested or consented to the cannabis-containing meal, Andrew’ (the deputy) stared at him with a blank expression for a few moments before stuttering through a . no.'”

One guest “apparently told investigators that after realizing she was high, she asked Svoboda if she put marijuana in the olive oil,” CNN reported, to which “Svoboda replied ‘yes’ and acted ‘excited.’ .”

But another guest, according to CNN, “said when she texted Svoboda from the hospital asking her what was going on and what she was given, the bride replied, ‘Ugg, we have no idea.'”

CNN reported, citing court filings, that “Both Svoboda and Bryant have been released from the Seminole County Jail and will be charged in June.”

According to Tampa-based law firm Sammis, Florida’s Anti-Tampering Act “covers tampering with food, as well as tampering with certain types of medicines, appliances or cosmetics.”

The law firm says the law isn’t used as often in part because “legal language is poorly written and doesn’t track federal food tampering statutes” and that the “terms used in Florida’s anti-tampering law are extremely vague.” , leading to constitutional challenges by criminal defense attorneys.”

“Local law enforcement officials will investigate any such allegation and take swift action. These crimes can be charged as third-degree, second-degree, or first-degree felonies, depending on how the tampering took place and the damage caused,” the firm explains. “Many of these crimes are committed by juveniles because of the often impulsive nature of the offence.”

The story underscores the dangers of serving cannabis-infused food to unsuspecting individuals. A South Dakota man was sentenced to 60 days in prison last month after his mother unknowingly served his cannabis-infused brownies to other seniors.

The man lost his job as a music teacher in a local school district over the incident and was also ordered to pay $34,000 in court fees and a two-year probation.

“I’m really sorry. This has affected so many in the community and I’m sorry,” he said at his sentencing, as quoted by the Associated Press. “So many people got sick and it wasn’t my intention.”

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