[offduty]

I would bet there is more to this story than is being told. First, the cop didn’t “forfeiture” the winnings from the guy, he stole them. You don’t just “take” money from someone, tell them not to say anything and then drive off.

For those who believe this example. There is a process by which property/cash is forfeited. The item is seized, a receipt is usually given and the item is then secured either in a police property room or if a vehicle, in a secure police facility.

The forfeiture unit opens a case against THE PROPERTY. Usually a letter sent by certified mail is sent to the person who was in possession of the property when seized. This gives the person the opportunity to make a claim for return of the property.

The prosecutor’s office is notified and a prosecutor starts a forfeiture proceeding against the property. Again, the person who was in possession is notified of the court date and then a trial is held in front of a judge who makes the determination as to whether the property is to be forfeited to the state. At no time is the property “taken” unless there is a court order signed by a judge that orders the property forfeited.

In most cases, the property seized may have been either proceeds of a criminal act or facilitated a criminal act. Those are the two ways property can be seized. If money is taken and the person makes no claim to the property, it still takes a court order for the property to be forfeited.

There was a period of time when canine units were used to sniff money to determine if there was drug residue on the cash. Those days are long gone since most US currency will cause a dog to alert. I don’t know of a judge that would award a forfeiture based on that scenario.

Forfeiture is one of those areas that most people don’t understand, take anecdotal stories as gospel and don’t bother to look deeper than the news story which is usually wrong to start out with.

[ExSES]

I would bet there is more to this story than is being told.

There always is! Fearmongering is not confined to the leftists and their cadres!

[qam1]

The 1st example is not a good one, as it is clearly theft. However there are more better examples in the article they should have lead the article with instead.

Overall, though you are right, it’s the 95% of bad cops that make the other 5% look bad also.

[MileHi]

The forfeiture unit opens a case against THE PROPERTY.

And that is what makes the process criminal, repugnant to the Constitution. Since inanimate objects have no rights the government doesn't have to be bothered with proving in court the owner of the property actually committed any crime.

[RedStateRocker]

No.

Forfeiture is one where any non-fascist is utterly and unalterably opposed to ANY of it happening until a conviction in court for a felony. Period. Anyone who can support, justify, or rationalize it, AT ALL except upon conviction is a lowlife thug needing a 158 grains to the cerebellum

[Rurudyne]

There should be no civil forfeiture at all, under any circumstances.

[Valpal1]

If you follow the links, you will see that the more to the story is that the sheriff's department was absolutely policing for profit by making pretextual traffic stops and seizing money, got sued and settled by returning the money plus attorney fees.

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2014/mar/14/humboldt-county-settles-suits-i-80-cash-seizures/

"Nguyen was given a written warning for speeding but wasn't cited. As a condition of release, he signed a "property for safekeeping receipt," which indicated the money was abandoned or seized and not returnable. But the lawsuit says he did so only because Dove threatened to seize his vehicle unless he "got in his car and drove off and forgot this ever happened."

After Nguyen's stop, the sheriff issued a news release with a photograph of Dove pictured with a K-9 and $50,000 in seized cash "after a traffic stop for speeding." "This cash would have been used to purchase illegal drugs and now will benefit Humboldt County with training and equipment. Great job," the statement said."

[wastedyears]

Those days are long gone since most US currency will cause a dog to alert. I don’t know of a judge that would award a forfeiture based on that scenario.

A black-robed tyrant would very happily "award" that if they get a kickback.

[lapsus calami]

 

 

You don’t just “take” money from someone, tell them not to say anything and then drive off.

 

Get on the internet search engine of your choice and look up what was going on in Tehana Texas for a few years before outside authorities got involved. Those lunatics were even snatching up MP3 players and such out of people's cars, claiming they were proceeds of illegal activity. They had a room packed with stolen consumer electronics. It was either go along with the scheme or end up in jail, lose everything. Disgusting.

 

 

[BOBWADE]

steven lehto civil asset forfeiture - Google Search
https://www.google.com/search?q=steven+lehto+civil+asset+forfeiture&oq=steven+lehto+civil+asset+forfeiture&aqs=chrome..69i57.18331j0j9&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:4f13c396,vid:OKdlHtViW_Y,st:0