I don’t have to.
And don’t forget you acted suspicious when the cops asked to search your car. And the police testified that the dog indicated there were drugs.
So Bricker they still have the preponderance of the evidence. Looks like you just lost your $210,000
Would you care to describe your understanding of “preponderance of the evidence?”
Legal theory: Greater weight of evidence for the trier of the facts to make a ruling.
ETA: In the case we were discussing, the Judge took the statement that Espinoza didn’t want the cops to find his cash as evidence that it was illegal. How can you fight that?
Great article on CAF
Among the highlights:
Third, unlike a criminal case in which a prosecutor must prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, in a civil forfeiture case, the prosecutor only needs to establish the basis for the forfeiture by a preponderance of the evidence. Defenders of current civil asset forfeiture procedures note that preponderance of the evidence is the standard of proof that is traditionally used in civil cases. While a true statement, this does not mean that it is the appropriate standard to use in civil asset forfeiture cases given the clear connection between this type of action and a typical criminal case.[21] Moreover, unlike a dispute between two private citizens, there are tremendous disparities in available resources and expertise between the property owner contesting the forfeiture and the governmental entity seeking the forfeiture.
Emphasis added
A deputy sheriff in Kane County, Illinois, wrote in a training book that “All of our home towns are sitting on a tax-liberating gold mine.”[29]
The Chief of Police of Columbia, Missouri, described his view of civil asset forfeiture as “kind of like pennies from heaven. It gets you a toy or something that you need, is the way we typically look at it.”[30]
The City Attorney of Las Cruces, New Mexico, was caught on videotape telling a roomful of people how police officers waited outside a bar hoping that the owner of a 2008 Mercedes would walk out drunk because they “could hardly wait” to get their hands on his car. He added, “We could be czars. We could own the city. We could be in the real estate business.”[31]
A Metro Gang Strike Force in Minnesota, which was under investigation by state and federal authorities for abusive forfeiture practices, was forced to shut down and pay out more than $840,000 in settlements.[32]
Victor Guzman, a church secretary from El Salvador, was pulled over by a Virginia trooper for speeding. When he revealed to the officer that he was carrying $28,500 in cash from parishioners’ donations, which he was going to use to buy land for the church, the trooper seized it.[38]
Mandrel Stuart and his girlfriend were pulled over on I-66 by a Fairfax County, Virginia, officer because he had tinted windows and a video playing in his sightline. Stuart, the owner of a small barbecue restaurant called the Smoking Roosters, was carrying $17,550 in cash that he was going to use that night to purchase restaurant supplies and equipment. After finding a tiny amount of marijuana residue in a bag, the police assumed it was drug money and seized it. Luckily for him, he got a good lawyer who was willing to accept a modest fee and won his case after a jury trial 14 months later. He lost his restaurant in the interim because he was unable to pay his bills and lacked credit.[39]
Vincent Costello, a home improvement contractor, and his girlfriend were stopped on Highway 17 by a sheriff’s deputy from Charleston County, South Carolina. Costello was on his way to Florida from New York to fix up a house he had bought in foreclosure. He was carrying $32,000. The officer claimed he smelled marijuana and seized the cash. By the time Costello paid his lawyer and settled the case, he was left with only $7,000.[40]
José Cristobal Guerrero, a construction foreman from Raleigh, North Carolina, was stopped by police in DeKalb County, Georgia, while traveling with his two nephews, whom he had just picked up at his brother’s house. They were headed to Mexico to see their grandfather. The police seized the $13,630 in cash that he was carrying, which he intended to use to pay for land in Mexico and to pay some bills for Guerrero’s extended family there. It took three years for him to get his money back, and even then, he had to agree not to sue the police or the prosecutors—a routine condition.[41]
Ming Tong Liu, a Chinese-born American from Newnan, Georgia, was stopped on I-10 in Alabama for driving 10 miles per hour over the speed limit while heading to Louisiana to buy the Hong Kong Chinese restaurant in Lake Charles for himself and his investors (two daughters and another relative). He was detained for nearly two hours, and the authorities found and seized $75,195. He got back his money 10 months later but only after spending thousands of dollars on a lawyer and losing out on the restaurant deal.[42]
George Reby, an insurance adjuster from New Jersey, had $22,000 seized by a police officer in Tennessee on suspicion that it was related to drug activity. The money was intended for use to buy a car, and Reby had active bids online for an automobile. His story was picked up by a local broadcast news affiliate, prompting the authorities to offer to return Reby’s money—but only if he agreed not to sue.[43]
Plus even more seizures listed which according to Bricker is no big thing and even a non-lawyer can get their money back as easy as pie.
DrDeth
July 28, 2017, 7:12pm
164
He claimed no such thing.:mad:
All in a day’s work for the cops that Trump just told to be not be nice to people they throw in the back of the paddy wagon. WTF, it must be nice to work for a legalized gang that can do anything it wants anytime to anyone.
Where have you been? If someone posts a denouncement of a social ill, if you don’t agree with whatever they say, that means you are in support of the social ill.
For example:
“Trump bit the head off of a live dove! He is an animal hater, warmonger, and the worst human being ever!!”
“Yeah, that didn’t actually happen”
“That’s not the point! He is a monster, and if you can’t see that, you are a monster too!”
Same for this thread it looks like. Same for a lot of threads.
To quote a sentiment I saw on Twitter recently: I wish that it were easier to say, “That’s a bad argument against X,” without people hearing, “I support X.”
I could swear he said that you just go to the court hearing and show that you have more evidence than the cop.
That would be an ill-advised oath to take.
DrDeth
July 29, 2017, 4:44am
171
“Plus even more seizures listed which according to Bricker is no big thing and even a non-lawyer can get their money back as easy as pie.”
Bricker has said he does not care for this and would like to see a higher level required.
But that is not the law at this time , like it or not.
You need to separate when** Bricker **says *what is *as opposed to be what should be.
Some News:
Justice Department creates watchdog for asset forfeiture program
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is setting up a unit in the Justice Department to oversee a policy he reinstated to help state and local police take cash and property from people suspected of a crime, even if they have not been charged.
Sessions came under fire from Democratic and Republican lawmakers when he announced the policy in July because of concerns about abuse in earlier incarnations of the asset forfeiture program. In a memo Tuesday, Sessions directed Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein to hire a director to review all aspects of the department’s policy and take action if problems arise.
“The asset forfeiture program has proven to be extremely valuable to law enforcement in our country, but it has received certain criticisms,” Sessions wrote in his memo.
Since 2008, thousands of police agencies across the country made more than 55,000 seizures of cash and property worth $3 billion under the program, which allowed local and state police to make seizures and then share the proceeds with federal agencies.
The Sessions policy reauthorizes what is called federal “adoption” of assets that state and local police seize — when the alleged conduct that led to the seizures appears to violate federal law.
And:
Leaked Handbook Reveals How ICE Uses Civil Forfeiture To Seize Millions
In a bombshell report, The Intercept on Friday published excerpts from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) “Asset Forfeiture Handbook,” which instructs agents on how to seize cash, real estate and other valuable property. . .
The handbook further includes several tips on how agents can maximize profit through seizing property. Agents should “not waste instigative time and resources” confiscating “liabilities.” In fact, the handbook outlines a “general rule” for asset forfeiture: “if total liabilities and costs incurred in seizing a real property or business exceed the value of the property, the property should not be seized.” . . .
Thanks in no small part to the handbook’s guidelines, forfeiture has become a boondoggle for ICE. According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, from fiscal 2003 to 2013, Department of Homeland Security agencies contributed a staggering $3.6 billion to the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. In recent years, “forfeiture revenue from ICE has consistently been approximately 50 percent or more of total forfeiture revenues by DHS.”
ICE contributes an even bigger proportion to “equitable sharing,” which allows local and state law enforcement to collaborate with federal agencies and forfeit seized property under federal law. During that same period, DHS distributed $1.2 billion through equitable sharing to state and local agencies, with ICE accounting for 90 percent of those payments. . .
But many lawmakers staunchly oppose equitable sharing. Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed amendments that would defund the adoption program and the Sessions forfeiture directive. On the state level, seven states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation to curtail their agencies from participating in equitable sharing.
Yes, in the same way racketeering is extremely valuable to the mafia.