KIDNEY STONE TURNS OUT TO BE ILLEGAL DRUG

Lab Results Counter Story Told To Police

If lab tests are accurate, an Atascadero woman's kidney stone may not float
in a criminal court, prosecutors say.

The district attorney's office says the brown, rock-like substance found in
Denise J. Gafner's vehicle last summer was an illegal drug-not mineral
formations from her urinary tract, as she claimed.

Gafner, 41, was stopped while driving home from a birthday party on Aug. 1
when Atascadero police officer Tiffany Ayles pulled her over for swerving
near Morro Road.

During that stop, Gafner allegedly admitted to drinking a couple of banana
and strawberry daiquiris.

But after Ayles searched Gafner's 1986 Ford Bronco, she found a
suspicious-looking substance in a plastic bag tucked into an eye-glass case
that was inside a purse.

When Ayles told the suspect she had possibly discovered methamphetamines,
Gafner reportedly laughed and said they were kidney stones.

After the substance was taken to the state's Department of Justice lab in
Goleta, Gafner told her attorney, Ilan Funke-Bilu, she had a rare kidney
disease and needed the stones for medical reasons.

But lab results have solidified the state's case, said deputy district
attorney Mark Weldon

According to the lab results, the substance consists of a gram-roughly the
size of a package of sugar-of methamphetamines.

According to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information,
methamphetamines-also known as "crank" "speed" and "meth"- can be taken in a
pill form, injected or smoked.

It is smoked when the substance is in crystal form.

The report was presented to Funke-Bilu could not be reached for comment.

Gafner faces misdemeanor charges for the suspected drug possession and
driving under the influence.

She will appear for a trial-setting conference later this month, Weldon said.

"She'll either enter a plea or leave her not guilty plea and set it for
trial," he said.

Kidney stones are often microscopic, though they can be up to a millimeter
large. They come in a variety of colors-including brown-and often cause pain
during urination.