winforlose wrote:SO_MONEY wrote:winforlose wrote:
I don’t know why you don’t believe the statements made by the officers, the police force, or their spokes people. The issue was the tags. They asked if he had weapons, he said yes. Everyone including Prince did everything right in that regard. It is the next phase when the cop went to secure the weapons that is at issue. I don’t want to go in circles so I will leave it be after saying this. If he was impaired they would have charged a DUI, if his weapons were not properly secured the issue wouldn’t have waited 3 months for charges on the pen. The headline would have been about an illegal weapons charge or an unsafe weapons charge, or whatever official title Texas has for the specific charge. The lack of statement in support of the theory or clear charges is evidence in and of itself.
2. The forfeiture issue as it relates to criminal law is different than the way it relates to property law. Ownership isn’t at issue here. Prince can let them keep the pen. The issue is whether the contents of the pen can be used against him criminally. In order to do so the pen must have been seized in a legal matter as part of a lawful search.
3. The question of ownership is immaterial to admissibility. It could belong to John Doe and still be a crime for it to be in Prince’s possession so long as there is a controlled substance inside.
You caught me mid edit, fat fingers. The last paragraph is up now...reads as follows:
Lastly, I am not sure if or how hey can use it as evidence. In Texas it is like a 60 day deadline to challenge, but once forfeited the person no longer owns it or has claim to any rights related to it. It legally speaking could be treated no different than abandoned property for evidence collection, that would be my argument in the affirmative.
This might also explain the lag in the arrest warrant. Who knows?
It was explicitly stated the lag in the arrest warrant was the testing just came back on the pen. Dangerous drugs was an incorrect charge because neither THC nor Marijuana qualify. The correct charge is controlled substance penalty group 2, less than 1g.
I appreciate your passion regarding forfeiture laws, but I think you are misunderstanding how they apply. In the article I posted they give an excellent example of a man having his vehicle seized even though he did not commit a crime. That is very different than an unauthorized search and illegal seizure by law enforcement for the purposes of using the property as evidence against the owner.
Again for all intents and purposes if a person doesn't make a claim with regards to this property and challenge said seizure in civil court it, legally speaking it is abandoned and might be allowed to be treated as such for evidence collection.
Also, the example of the DUI is not nearly equatable, because forfeiture is codified into law and a civil penalty of the offense. But one also would assume it could be used as evidence in a criminal case as well, DUI or other. Just saying...










