Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Passes Out Of Committee

Rickey Stokes

Viewed: 1971

Posted by: RStokes
Date: Feb 21 2018 10:16 AM

HOUSTON COUNTY:    A Dothan businessman was the victim of a civil forfeiture after an arrest that was utter crap.  

Agents from State Bureau of Investigation arrested the Dothan businessman, made him a villain in the media, stole $ 25,000.00 from him under the disguise of a civil forfeiture. The Assistant District Attorney was extremely critical of the Dothan businessman. The Assistant District Attorney made accusations of which he could not prove in court.

In fact the Assistant District Attorney said they were taking their time to get it right. Well, they did not get it right. The indictment was dismissed.

But the Assistant District Attorney presented evidence to another Grand Jury and got the man indicted, again. But the case could not be proven and the case was dismissed by a Judge. But they held onto the man's money they had taken under the disguise of a civil forfeiture.

The case was a lie. The case was a investigator who is a career government worker who has no clue of business operations. But the Judge who had the criminal case was not the Judge who had the civil forfeiture of the law enforcement and district attorney trying to steal the man's money.

And yes, I use the word STEAL. Because when they pretend to take the money under false pretenses and accusations of which they can not prove in court, the officer and district attorney are no better than the thief that takes money from a business. In fact they are really worse because they are doing so under the color of law in false circumstances.

The district attorney's yell about this law and spew that it hurts their ability to do their job. BAH HUM BUG!  They want the money to buy their toys and add to their coffers for their wants. The Alabama Legislature does not fund the district attorney's as they should. Therefore they are required to be creative and make themselves believe they are doing right.

By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter

The Senate Judiciary Committee gave a favorable report to a bill last week that promises to reform civil asset forfeiture laws in the state of Alabama to provide some basic protection the rights of the accused.

Senate Bill 213 is sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur.

“This is not about rewarding criminal behavior,”  Orr said. “To look at the process of requiring a conviction before profit is forfeited.  The bill you have before us still has a lot of work to do.  There should be some due process before civil forfeiture can occur.”

Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he said that he supports the legislation.

Senator Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, said that he thought some of the reporting requirements in the bill were too “onerous.”

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