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Cop Took $16K From Man On His Way To Buy Tractor Parts After Seeing THIS In His Car
When a California man set out to Montana to purchase some tractor parts, little did he know that he would be forfeiting $16,000 of his cash to the Big Sky State. The state has now taken action to stop this type of abuse from happening.
Lorenzo Ayala of Palo Alto was pulled over on I-90 by the Montana Highway Patrol for a routine traffic stop in February 2013.
The Casper Star-Tribune reports that Mont. trooper Erick Fetterhoff, trained in drug recognition, became suspicious when he saw “a single key in the ignition, a bag of beef jerky, a bottle of Visine, cologne, lighters, clothing stored in plastic grocery bags, and trash littered throughout the car.”
Those transporting narcotics often use masking scents to cover up the smell of the drugs; and they travel long periods of time, accumulating trash in their car.
Fetterhoff called in the K-9 drug unit, which detected the presence of narcotics.
Police searched Ayala’s Volkswagon Jetta, but did not find any drugs; however, they did discover $16,020 in cash in the trunk. During the stop, the officer also determined that Ayala was driving with an expired license plate and license and should have had a breath-alcohol ignition device.
Ayala was never charged with a crime in relation to the cash; nonetheless, a Montana judge ruled last fall that he could not receive his money back.
Ayala’s cash is just part of the $172,000 in drug forfeiture funds the Montana Highway Patrol has spent since 2013.
The practice of asset forfeiture is common throughout the United States. Critics call it “policing for profit.” The Washington Post reports that police have seized at least $2.5 billion since 2001 from “people who were not charged with a crime and without a warrant being issued. Police reasoned that the money was crime-related.”
The state of Montana passed legislation in April to stop the practice of seizing property without proving it is actually related to the crime.
According to the Daily Caller, the new Montana law:
-Requires a criminal conviction before forfeiture of property. Police can still take your property if they suspect it’s tied to criminal activity, but if you’re not convicted of a crime they have to give it back.
-Once convicted, police must show by “clear and convincing” evidence that the property is tied to the criminal activity in order to keep it, a much higher burden of proof than the previous probable cause.
-It shifts the burden of proof to the government when your property is forfeited because of someone else. This means that if your friend takes your car without permission and police seize it while your friend is joy riding, you have a much better chance of getting it back from police.
Lee McGrath, legislative counsel for the Institute for Justice, told The Daily Caller that “only nine states prevent forfeiture proceeds from funding police: Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Vermont and New Mexico.”
Police have already used Ayala’s money to help fund the Montana Highway Patrol’s first K-9 unit.
Ayala’s attorney, Chris Young, said: “The police ought to have to prove something before they take your stuff away. And now they do.”
“It’s a tremendous improvement that the government has to prove the relationship instead of forcing the person to prove there is no relationship,” Young said. “The burden of proof is on the right person now.”
Montana’s new asset forfeiture reforms are set to take effect on July 1, 2015.
h/t: New.Mic
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Equipping You With The Truth
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/cop-took-16k-from-man-on-his-way-to-buy-tractor-parts-after-seeing-this-in-his-car/
Isn’t it odd that if you or I were to go out into the public while wearing a gun and took money from someone, it’s a crime?
BUT if someone wearing a costume and a badge does it, it’s somehow not a crime? Why is it not a crime because someone working for the government STEALS your money?? the same events occur, right??
Man wearing a gun, takes money from another man.. HOW IS THAT NOT A CRIME??
It is a crime.
Each person that has taken money from other without due process, is a criminal. Anyone who continues to befriend those criminals,
including family members, is in it with them.
A government where the judges, prosecutors, leo’s, politicians, etc.,
are all in it together, is way past looney.
These police officers will be charged by Jesus Christ for theft. I hope it keeps them out of the Kingdom that HE will bring on planet earth. That would be a very long punishment no doubt but they had no moral authority to take the money. They violated God’s law, their punishment is thereby justice, until the end of time