Civil asset forfeiture allows law enforcement officers to seize an individual’s personal property when they suspect it is connected to criminal activity. Sugar Land law enforcement can seize any type of property, including cash, cars, houses, farm equipment, and jewelry.
Technically, the state of Texas is charging the property, not the owner, with the crime. Therefore, civil asset forfeiture can be initiated without an arrest or criminal charge. In fact, even if all criminal charges against you are dismissed, your property can still be forfeited.
What Procedures Does the State Need to Follow?
If law enforcement seizes your property, it is not automatically forfeited. The state must follow specific procedures and file a forfeiture lawsuit with the court. After taking the property, the state has 30 days to file a case with the court. The state is required to let you know (serve notice) that it has filed suit against your property.
You have the right to fight the lawsuit. If you do nothing, there will be a default judgment, and your property will be automatically forfeited. If your property is forfeited, you will permanently lose all ownership rights. In Texas, over 60% of people do not fight forfeiture cases.
You do not have the right to a free court-appointed attorney in forfeiture lawsuits because the property, not you, is named as the defendant. However, you can hire an attorney or receive free legal help through an organization.
It is critical that you do reach out to a criminal defense attorney if your property was seized because the state can bring criminal charges after you are released. Just because the police released you after a search does not mean that you will not be charged with a crime.
Can You Get Your Property Back?
Forfeiture cases can be fought and won in Sugar Land, Texas. The state must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is connected to a crime. This means that the government needs to establish that it is more likely than not that the property was used (or intended to be used) in the commission of a crime. This is a lower burden than proof beyond a reasonable doubt used in traditional criminal cases. However, your attorney can still argue that the property is not connected to criminal activity. If the court finds that the property is not connected to criminal activity, the property will be returned.
Additionally, Texas recognizes the innocent owner defense. Under this defense, the burden is on you to prove that you are innocent. If you got the property before or during the time that the crime took place, you must show that you had no knowledge of that crime before taking the property, and you should not have reasonably known about the crime. If you got the property after the crime took place, you must show that you got the property for value (i.e., you did not take the property for free), and you did not have reason to believe the property was contraband. You cannot use the innocent owner defense if you purposefully avoided learning that the property was used in a crime.
In Sugar Land, it is also a defense if you are a victim of family violence, which made you unable to stop the crime that was the basis for the seizure.
Abuses of Civil Asset Forfeiture in Texas
Texas has one of the worst reputations for civil asset forfeiture abuse in the country. Texas forfeiture laws have drawn a lot of criticism, and forfeiture is accused of being a profit-making industry for local law enforcement.
Texas law enforcement agencies can keep up to 70% of forfeiture proceeds. Although they must report the overall amount seized, they do not need to report how much property is taken each seizure or how often it is tied to a criminal charge. Forfeiture proceeds fund as much as 40% of county and local enforcement budgets and brings in about $50 million per year. This unregulated profit gives a clear incentive for officers to seize as much property as possible.
Although supporters of civil asset forfeiture often reference criminal organizations and drug cartels as the focus of the laws, the majority of individuals targeted are those who do not have the resources to fight back. A 2019 article by the Texas Tribune analyzed data from several Texas counties in 2016 and found that two of every five forfeiture cases started with a traffic stop, and half were for far less than $3,000.
In Fort Bend County, traffic stops leading to civil asset forfeiture regularly occur on Highway 59. Law enforcement argues that Highway 59 is a thoroughfare for drug cartels, but the evidence clearly suggests minorities and low-income individuals are the most common targets.
Drug-Sniffing Dogs and Civil Asset Forfeiture
In Fort Bend County, the use of drug-sniffing dogs at a routine traffic stop is not considered an unreasonable search under the Constitution. After a dog is alerted, the police have probable cause to search the car and can seize any drugs or money found.
However, multiple studies have shown that drug-sniffing dogs have a very high error rate. Some experts have found that narcotic-sniffing dogs are wrong more often than they are right. The inaccuracy is most often attributed to the dogs responding to conscious and unconscious cues from their handlers. Civil asset forfeiture gives polices a strong incentive to get a response from drug-sniffing dogs. If your property was seized after the use of a drug-sniffing dog, you should seek out the help of a criminal defense attorney to defend your rights.
Your Sugar Land Criminal Defense Attorney
If you or a loved one is facing a civil asset forfeiture lawsuit, you should reach out to an experienced and client-focused Sugar Land criminal defense attorney. Adam Capetillo is a Fort Bend County native who will provide a skilled and aggressive defense. Call Capetillo Law Firm today for a free consultation.
