A trial court cannot release money seized from a defendant back to the defendant for the purpose of funding his or her defense, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled. However, the forfeiture action in question will continue after the high court reversed summary judgment for the state.
The Indiana Supreme Court is set to hear several oral arguments next month concerning issues such as child depositions, medical malpractice, and civil forfeiture.
Indiana’s civil forfeiture framework is once again under scrutiny as a new lawsuit alleges a law allowing private prosecutors to earn a contingency fee in forfeiture actions is unconstitutional.
The state must pay back more than $700,000 to a money services business who had cash seized following a traffic stop, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled, finding “no evidence whatsoever that a crime was committed.”
After seven-plus years of litigation, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Marion man seeking the return of his seized white Land Rover. The majority justices concluded Thursday that Tyson Timbs met his high burden of showing that the harshness of his vehicle’s forfeiture was grossly disproportionate to the gravity of his underlying drug dealing offense and culpability for the vehicle’s misuse.
Gerardo Serrano ticked off the border crossing agents by taking some photos on his phone. So they took his pickup truck and held onto it for more than two years. Now the U.S. Supreme Court might take up the case.
A Hancock County trial court must revisit the forfeiture of more than $32,000 related to a marijuana bust after the Indiana Court of Appeals found errors in various evidentiary rulings.
A West Texas judge has a word of caution to those attending court hearings via Zoom: Always check for filters before logging on. The advice came after a Texas lawyer had difficulty removing the filter during the hearing, assuring the judge, “I’m here live. I’m not a cat.”
For the third time, the case regarding the forfeiture of a Marion man’s Land Rover went back before the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday. Justices were asked once again to allow the state to forfeit the vehicle that Tyson Timbs was driving in 2013 when he was arrested for drug dealing.
Civil forfeiture is back before the judicial and the legislative branches of Indiana government. A Senate bill would implement forfeiture reforms that practitioners say have long been necessary, while a case scheduled to go before the Indiana Supreme Court this month for the third time could further refine how trial courts consider whether a forfeiture is lawful.
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday will hear oral argument in a civil forfeiture case involving the Hancock County prosecutor and tens of thousands of dollars.
The Marion man at the center of an Indiana civil forfeiture case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court reached a milestone in his case this week when his vehicle was returned to him. However, the court battle is not over.
It’s been seven years since Marion man Tyson Timbs lost his Land Rover to a law enforcement seizure, but the ensuing forfeiture litigation that has already made its way to the nation’s highest court is now heading into its second round of appeals.
After seven years, two appearances before the Indiana Supreme Court and a trip to the United States Supreme Court, a Marion man fighting for the return of his seized vehicle has won his battle, with a trial court judge ordering the “immediate” return of his SUV. But a pending appeal means the case is not over yet.
Attorneys representing governmental entities will serve their clients well to read the Indiana Supreme Court’s opinion from Timbs, which will provide insights into certain issues the court considers important in evaluating claims that a specific forfeiture violated the respondent’s rights under the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment.
Attorneys representing entities that engage in civil forfeitures should familiarize themselves with the U.S. Supreme Court’s State v. Timbs ruling to ensure their clients comply with the ruling and the entity’s constitutional obligations.
Little more than a year after the United States Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision incorporating to the states the Eight Amendment protection against excessive fines, the Grant County man who bears the name of the case is headed back to trial.
A panel of appellate judges has affirmed the forfeiture of roughly $17,000 in cash seized from a man after his involvement in a mobile shootout in Indianapolis. The panel concluded there was a nexus between the money and qualifying criminal activity.
The Southern District of Indiana collected more than $10 million from criminal and civil actions and asset forfeitures in fiscal year 2019, with more than $3 million collected through asset forfeitures.
Legislative amendments to Indiana’s much-debated civil forfeiture scheme did not defeat a pre-existing forfeiture action in state court, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday, finding the amendments did not constitute an ex post facto law.