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Posted on 11/09/2011 11:26:06 AM PST by BenLurkin
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department unlawfully seized up to $7 million worth of property from a Santa Clarita landowner, according to a lawsuit filed in a federal court.
Attorney Richard Gibson of Woodland Hills represents the owners of the property that was seized on a 20-acre site near Magic Mountain.
Deputies allegedly seized tractors, trailers, boats and cargo containers after discovering a reportedly stolen skiploader that Gibson said was abandoned on the site without the landowners’ knowledge.
“For many years, my client has stored a great deal of stuff on the property,” said Gibson. “One of [the owners] had moved from a large house on the east coast to the west and was just storing her stuff there until she found a house.”
Gibson said the sheriff’s office has yet to give his clients a complete inventory of the seized items and is allegedly refusing to return the property.
The lawsuit is seeking either the property returned or monetary compensation, he said.
“We are basically suing on the grounds that the sheriff took property that belonged to my client, and taking it was unlawful in a variety of ways,” said Gibson. “It violated their property rights, basically.”
While he has not yet seen the complaint, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said, “Lawsuits never tell the whole story and we look forward to telling the whole story.”
Those seizure laws would seem to be highly unconstitutional.
The cops don't take any of the stuff for their own use.
Honest.
I never had toys like that when I was a kid. I would have loved a front end loader!
More and more police actions are about revenue gathering, not justice. I read that 22 states now have traffic citations as their single biggest income. In my town the government installed traffic light cameras. The discussion was all about revenue, not safety. When the lights failed to reach the projected revenue returns, they cut the yellow to the legal minimum, 3 seconds. The local cops are ticketing for 5 miles over the speed limit.
Locally, the police seized the home of an elderly black woman because her under-age grandson sold drugs on her front porch. There are departments that do nothing except seizures. Nothing should be seized unless the government can prove it was obtained through illegal means.
“Lawsuits never tell the whole story and we look forward to telling the whole story.”
Truism 101
****Those seizure laws would seem to be highly unconstitutional.****
Those laws probably predate the Constitution. During the Salem Witch Trials, if a person pleaded “guilty” or “Not Guilty” their property was seized before the trial held.
One man, accused of witchcraft, refused to make a plea, so he was slowly crushed to death under rocks, in an attempt to make him plea. all he said till he died was...”More Weight!” As a result his property could NOT be confiscated by the local magestrates.
Mrs. Dog let me get one (on the front end of an older farm tractor.) I’m still finding ways to put it to use, as it goes well beyond a toy. sd
I would like to know how long ago the property was seized and if there is an ongoing investigation and if criminal charges are still pending. I would like to know if the property was seized without a search warrant. If it was, that is a major problem but not a fatal one to the case.
But, remember that if a search warrant was issued, it is the issuing Judge who directs the police to seize the property. And it is the Judge who will direct the release of the property back to the people from whom it was seized.
I have seized cash and property during the execution of search warrants. In some cases I wouldn't release property which had been determined to be stolen (obviously), but on my own volition, without contacting the judge, I returned property and cash having no connection to the case.
In Los Angeles they turned off all the red light cameras (we never had speed cameras). The reason was because there is no way to force payment and people refused to pay.
Yes, they had proof that your car went through the red light. But they can’t prove it was you driving it. You didn’t sign the citation like you would if a cop pulled you over. And they could not do a legal service. Sending a ticket in the mail is not a legal service, so they could never prove you even got the citation. They tried to make it work, but a judge finally told them they can’t attach your salary or property, or issue a bench warrant etc. Nada. The best they could do is hope people paid. The only way they could prove service is if people who got the citation called the number or went online.
Once that happened they decided to shut ‘em off. Was close to losing money anyway, because everyone ignored the citations and they had to split the revenues with the camera owners and operators (the city contracted it out, which imho made it very onerous). Because of the low revenues and high costs, they turned them off. But nobody wants to pay to take them down, so they are still at many of the intersections.
I still want a road grader with a V-plow in the front and a wing plow, for the snow.
Gibson Guitar certainly comes to mind.
“Those seizure laws would seem to be highly unconstitutional.”
What isn’t these days? We have no constitution.
This sheriff ought to be in jail, like any other thief.
JMO, the property in the Gibson case should have been returned long ago. If there are genuine civil or criminal actions being contemplated, a sample of the property can be retained for trial. Otherwise, the government should put up or shut up.
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