Justice Department Reins in Civil Asset Forfeiture

The Justice Department has just issued an order that reigns in the civil asset forfeiture program. In case you missed it, civil asset forfeiture is the program that lets police seize any vehicles, houses, or currency that they suspect is associated with crime. They can do this even if the person who had the vehicle, house, or cash is never charged with a crime.

The order basically eliminates the equitable sharing program, which let local police agencies seize assets and then share them with federal agencies like the FBI or DEA.

According to the Washington Post, police agencies across the country have seized more than 3 billion dollars’ worth of property since 2008 under the equitable sharing program. That’s more than the yearly GDP of Belize, Guyana, or Liberia.

Although the order limits the equitable sharing program, it doesn’t eliminate it entirely. Local police can still seize firearms, ammunition, explosives, or computer equipment associated with child pornography under equitable sharing. The order also doesn’t apply to any joint task forces between federal and local agencies or federal seizure warrants.

Also, most states have their own asset forfeiture programs. Florida’s “Contraband Forfeiture Act” allows the police to seize cash, vessels or equipment if they suspect is the product of illegal activity. The state must then prove that the property was used or obtained in violation of the act by “clear and convincing evidence.” This is the middle of the three burden-of-proofs – higher than “the preponderance of the evidence” (used in most civil cases) but lower than “beyond a reasonable doubt” (used in all criminal cases). If you like percentages, think of the “preponderance of the evidence” as 50.000000000000000000000000000 … 01%, and “beyond a reasonable doubt” as 99.99999999999999999999999 …9%.

Don’t get me wrong – the Justice Department’s ending of the equitable sharing program is a big step forward. But just because that program is over (kind of), it doesn’t mean that police can’t seize assets from people arrested for a crime.

photo credit: Chris Yarzab via photopin cc

Sam proudly represents those accused of crimes and injured through no fault of their own throughout the greater Tampa Bay area.

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Civil Compromise in California Hit & Run Cases

If you are charged with a Hit and Run under California Vehicle Code 20002(a), one of the options you should think about having your lawyer pursue is what is known as a "Civil Compromise". A civil compromise allows the parties to agree to dismissal upon monetary compensation for reasonable damages. It is one of the rare situations in which an alleged victim can "drop the charges" against an accused.

I recently employed this strategy in a recent Hit and Run Case out of the West Covina Courthouse. My client had already compensated the other party for her damages. I contacted her and explained the civil compromise arrangement - now that she had been compensated, I asked if she would be willing to dismiss the charges against my client. She was reluctant to do so and wanted to think about it. I informed her that was ok and she could call me back when she had an answer.

I didn't hear from her for a couple of weeks and decided to follow up. I received no call or email in return. At this point I did not want to continue to ask her because I didn't want to seem like I was harassing her. I realized she did not want to cooperate and agree to a dismissal, but I had to think of another way to get this misdemeanor dismissed for my client - Hit and Run is 2 points with the DMV and he needed to avoid those extra points because he drove a lot as part of his job.

My next strategy was to approach the District Attorney with my client's witness statements as well as proof that the alleged victim had been fully compensated and we had attempted to do a civil compromise with her. After some negotiation, he agreed to dismiss the Hit and Run charge against my client and have him plead to an infraction with no DMV points and a small fine. My client was very happy and this definitely suited his situation.

Civil Compromises aren't just available in Vehicle Code 20002(a) Hit and Run Cases, but they are also available in other types of cases such as vandalism and even embezzlement. Even though I was unable to get a straight dismissal for my client, I did not give up and pursued another course of action that still resulted in a dismissal of the misdemeanor.

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