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Four months after she was charged with DUI by Layton City, Amanda Houghton is glad the city dropped the charge. From the start, she said she was wrongly arrested and that a Layton police officer searched her around her breasts.

"I still don't think I can celebrate," she said.

Houghton, 34, feels the case is still hanging over her because Layton City dismissed the DUI charge without prejudice on Wednesday in 2nd District Court. That means they can re-file the charge.

"I don't think this is justice in any way, shape, or form," said Amanda Houghton's husband, Matt Houghton.

Robert Sykes, a Salt Lake attorney, is working with the Houghtons on a civil rights case against Layton police.

Sykes said the arrest and the prosecution of Amanda Houghton is unconstitutional and the dismissed charge without prejudice offers more proof of malicious prosecution on behalf of Layton City.

"They are doing this so they can hopefully intimidate her out of filing a lawsuit," Sykes said.

Steve Garside, assistant city attorney for Layton and city spokesperson, said the city filed for the dismissal because it didn't think the evidence could prove she was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

They filed the dismissal without prejudice because in the future they may want to re-test the Amanda Houghton's blood sample — even though it showed her blood was clean of drugs or alcohol.

He suggested a new test in the future might detect something that can prove the police officer was right.

"As science continues to evolve, we will see what tests become available," he said.

Matt Houghton said the city's unwillingness to let the charge go for good, is wrong.

"You don't' drag a family through this," he said.

The Houghtons said they maxed out credit cards to pay for an attorney and other fees to fight the DUI.

They have both taken time off work for court hearings and to get Amanda Houghton's driver license back — which was taken when she was arrested on July 25.

On that day, she called 911 for help. She was at a stop light in her car, when another driver slammed into the back of her vehicle. Both cars were totaled.

Amanda Houghton had bruises and scrapes on her knee and foot and she said she was badly shaken by the 30 mph crash.

In his report, Layton Officer G. Schatzman said Amanda Houghton was speaking rapidly, behaving oddly and making jerky movements when he saw her.

He gave her a field sobriety test, which she failed.

She said she was out of sorts because she was in a serious crash.

Police said she declined medical treatment. Her husband showed up at the scene and said he told officers his wife needed medical help.

Police video shows, after the field sobriety test in which Amanda Houghton seemed to struggle with balance, that Schatzman handcuffed her and searched around her breasts before taking her to jail.

Amanda Houghton felt violated by the search and said she was wrongly arrested. Layton police said its officer acted appropriately and had probable cause to arrest Amanda Houghton after she failed the field sobriety test.

Lt. Travis Lyman said a male officer can search a female for drugs or weapons before taking her to jail if a female officer is not available.

"That's standard practice. Anytime someone gets arrested, they are going to be searched," Lyman said.

Jonathan Nish, the attorney who represented Amanda Houghton in the DUI case, disagrees with police and thinks there was no probable cause to arrest her and that the search of her body was illegal.

He said Schatzman was summoned to the scene to help Amanda Houghton and turned a call for help into a DUI investigation.

"Ms. Houghton was wronged in many ways. The system failed her until the end when they finally decided to dismiss," he said.