Highway seizure in Iowa fuels debate about asset-forfeiture laws
This is the fifth installment in the “Stop and Seize” investigative series.
Huff Post
Nov. 10, 2014
Iowa
state troopers stop two California men in a rented car on April 15,
2013. The police stop, search of the car and seizure of more than
$100,000 is at the center of a federal civil rights lawsuit in which the
motorists claim their rights against unreasonable searches and seizures
were violated. (Image from video provided by Iowa State Patrol)
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Highway seizure in Iowa fuels debate about asset-forfeiture laws
They intersected last year on a rural stretch of Interstate 80, in a seemingly routine traffic stop that would soon raise new questions about laws that allow police to take money and property from people not charged with crimes.
By the time the encounter was over, the gamblers had been detained for more than two hours. Their car was searched without a warrant. And their cellphones, a computer and $100,020 of their gambling “bankroll” were seized under state civil asset-forfeiture laws. The troopers allowed them to leave, without their money, after issuing a traffic warning and a citation for possession of marijuana paraphernalia that carried a $65 fine, court records show.
Months later, an attorney for the men obtained a video of the stop. It showed that the motorists were detained for a violation they did not commit — a failure to signal during a lane change — and authorities were compelled to return 90 percent of the money.
Now the men are questioning the police tactics in an unusual federal civil rights lawsuit...
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