Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 | 5:15 p.m.
For a second time, a federal appeals court has ruled that two Las Vegas professional gamblers can pursue their suit against a federal narcotics officer for seizing $97,000 in cash suspected of being used in drug trafficking.
A panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday held that gamblers Gina Fiore and Keith Gibson could sue in a Nevada court against DEA agent Antony Walden who confiscated the cash in an airport in Atlanta in 2006.
The panel in 2011, in a 2-1 decision, sent the suit back to district court in Las Vegas to allow the gamblers to pursue their claim. Warden petitioned for a rehearing but the panel rejected his motion on a 2-1 vote.
Walden maintained the Nevada court had no jurisdiction over him. He said he did not own property in Nevada and had never even been in this state.
He then asked that the full circuit court hear the case but was rejected. Four of the judges sided with Walden for a full court rehearing. The three-judge panel then issued an amended opinion allowing the suit to continue.
Fiore and Gibson were returning from a gambling trip in Puerto Rico when Walden and other federal officers stopped them at the airport in Georgia questioning them about drugs and weapons. The couple explained that $30,000 was their initial gambling money and the rest was from their winnings.
But a drug-detecting dog clawed the bag of Gibson, and agents seized the luggage and the money on grounds it may have been used in narcotics dealings. They did not even allow the couple money for a taxi in Las Vegas.
The couple, once back in Las Vegas, sent the federal agent tax returns verifying they were professional gamblers, hotel records and receipts from their trips, which showed the legitimacy of their seized money.
The money was not immediately returned. The suit by Fiore and Gibson says Walden submitted a false affidavit seeking to confiscate the money. The U.S. Attorney's Office felt the affidavit was misleading and the $97,000 was returned more than six months after it was seized, said the circuit court.
Fiore and Gibson then sued and the case has been battled in the courts for five years.
In ruling Nevada courts had jurisdiction, the federal panel said the federal agent intentionally targeted the Nevada couple and the two did not have to go to Georgia to seek redress.
"a drug-detecting dog clawed the bag of Gibson, and agents seized the luggage and the money on grounds it may have been used in narcotics dealings."
Drug dogs have less than a 50% success rate. Drugs are found in less than half the cases where a "drug dog" alerted to his handler that drugs were present were drugs, in fact, present. Cops can flip a coin and have a better chance of predicting if someone is in possession of narcotics.
Given that the federal government by definition has jurisdiction in all 50 states a party to a federal action should be allowed to proceed in their home state whenever it is reasonable.
Next time get a check. Problem solved.
Tom, that might make things easier but it misses the point. These people did nothing illegal and shouldn't be hassled or have their money taken just because some government goon is suspicious.
The whole notion of 'asset forfeiture'...
Goes against the grain of 'innocent until proven guilty',
AND lends itself to abuses by 'Law Enforcement' agencies.
By the time many folks wind their way through the 'justice system', they come to find their seized 'assets' have been auctioned off, or somehow they STILL aren't 'eligible' for the return of their property.
In some jurisdictions, 'asset forfeiture' is BIG BUSINESS for 'Law Enforcement'...
http://www.isil.org/resources/lit/lootin...
Just remember you are guilty until you prove your innocence!
This is just another example of government out of control. This US legal and (in)justice system does not work.
It only make profits for the people who run jails and lawyers.
The US has twice as many people per 100,000 people THAN ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
THis hides 1,000,000 unemployed and so that the US is really NOT a free country any more.
.
Would not be unusual for cash to have trace amounts of cocaine on it.
OK my favorite sentence of the day....
Bob635: "The US has twice as many people per 100,000 people THAN ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD."
Huh? I'm guessing we have exactly 100,000 people per 100,000 people. Unless you think that maybe some of those people aren't really "people". So are you commenting on the prevalence of alien infiltrators from space?
My guess though is that you meant "people in jail"...in which case you are also completely wrong.
Prisoners per 100,000 population:
US: 730
St. Kitts and Nevis: 649
Sorry, but 730 is not twice as many as 649.
The latest facts are out and cops can false lead thier dogs and ruin anyones life. This officer needs to be fired immediately and someone needs to pay a big settlement here to get cops attention so this bs stops.
Lets the two sue, they will have to prove that the money confiscated was actually winning, considering they were found with drugs. This couple was stupid to begin with, why would you travel with that amount of cash, they should of deposited it into their account.
http://www.rxgamble.blogspot.com/2012/08...
@exoress445..."Lets the two sue, they will have to prove that the money confiscated was actually winning, considering they were found with drugs."
Clearly you didn't read this story. Otherwise you would have seen this:
"The couple, once back in Las Vegas, sent the federal agent tax returns verifying they were professional gamblers, hotel records and receipts from their trips, which showed the legitimacy of their seized money.... and the $97,000 was returned more than six months after it was seized, said the circuit court."
Also, no drugs were found, and "The U.S. Attorney's Office felt the affidavit [filed by DEA AGENT Antony Walden] was misleading.
It shocks me how many people will take the word of someone in spite of his proven dishonesty, simply because he/she sports a badge.