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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 16085
[Legal]
Date Posted:
8/23/2006
4:30:01 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 7,608
RSS: 23,352
Comments: 32
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Federal Appeals Court: Driving With Money Is A Crime
Author: TheNewspaper.com Source: TheNewspaper.com
Title: FEDERAL APPEALS COURT: DRIVING WITH MONEY IS A CRIME
Eighth Circuit Appeals Court ruling says police may seize cash from motorists even in the absence of any evidence that a crime has been committed.
A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that if a motorist is carrying large sums of money, it is automatically subject to confiscation.
In the case entitled, "United States of America v. $124,700 in U.S. Currency," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit took that amount of cash away from Emiliano Gomez Gonzolez, a man with a "lack of significant criminal history" neither accused nor convicted of any crime.
Additional Article Link: [Click HERE]
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Community Thoughts: There are 32 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| I Read The Decision. | Aug 25th. at 12:31:28 pm EDT
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Aleyinn (Dundalk, Maryland) - Email Me
I read the court's decision, which was surprisingly not quite as legalistically-written as I thought it would be.
There are a lot of suspicious facts in this case. I'm not personally convinced the tale told her is completely true. Then again, neither am I convinced it's false.
That's what the purpose of our legal system is. When a situation is not cut-and-dried, (and this case is not cut-and-dried) , we investigate to determine the situation. The ideal result here would have been to impound the money pending the outcome of a criminal drug charge. If the court finds him not guilty, he gets his money and goes on his merry way. If he is guilty, they confiscate the money. Seems the fairest plan to me.
I don't know all the circumstances of this case, but I am concerned about the implications of this opinion. Having a lot of paper money can indeed be evidence of drug activity, but in the presence of other evidence. If there is evidence, then initiate criminal proceedings. Were I on a grand jury looking at this evidence, I would conclude that there is sufficient argument here for a criminal trial. Not a finding of guilt, mind you, just for a trial to investigate further. If that is how this process proceeds, then it may work out all right. But there is cause for concern.
On a lighter note, I can't help but suppress a giggle at the title on the docket, U.S. v. $160,000 or whatever the amount was. I keep getting a picture in my head of a cartoon dollar bill sitting in the defendant's chair, looking sad and dejected... (I'm sorry if this is in poor taste, I just can't help finding a little bit of humour to maintain my own sanity.)
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| Sounds Like... | Aug 25th. at 10:09:33 am EDT
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Mysteries Child (Garfield, Arkansas) - Email Me
...greed, paranoia, and racism to me.
Do I think it's possible that he was involved in drug activity?? Yes, I do.
Do I think it's possible that his story is completely legitimate?? Yes, I do.
And if it is, our greedy and reactionary system has just made another enemy out of someone who was, formerly, a law-abiding individual trying to make a living the American way.
Bet he won't be one any more!
Even if he actually is the cocaine kingpin of the prairie...
...bad decision!! Bad ruling!! Bad precedent!!
Bad!! Bad!!
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| Well I May Be Next | Aug 25th. at 1:34:53 am EDT
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FireOak (Otis, Oregon) - Email Me
We recently moved cross country, in a rented u-haul and took our savings with us as the bank we had is not out here. If u do not it can take almost 2 week to be able to accesses your funds. Belive me it happens. So it was either carry our savings with us or not have any money in a new state for 2 weeks.
We only had $15,000 but that is a lot of money to me. What if they decided it was to much for us to have in savings?
What is this country coming to?
Anyone who thinks no one should carry cash at any time, I hope they get to move to new town where their bank isn't and see how they like the reasons why they can't have their money.
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| You Might Think The Guy Is A Druggie Or So On... | Aug 24th. at 3:57:01 pm EDT
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karrie9 (Kenosha, Wisconsin) - Email Me - Web
...but we stil must have a system in which due process plays its important role! [Web LINK]
It's applicable for both state and federal levels, according to our U.S. Constitution (see above link) .
Otherwise, people will cross lines more and more and the wrongs start snowballing. Reasonable boundaries are lost and confused. We slide the slippery slope right into a system of imbalances rather than balance in which the Constitution is upheld.
Two wrongs do not a right make!
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| No Evidence | Aug 24th. at 1:00:04 pm EDT
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ladynoogs (lowell, Ohio) - Email Me
like the article said... how do they "know" it was a drug deal if there were no drugs.. sure the dog barked.. but like the article said it was a rental car.... My parents just recently sold a 15 acre peice of land and two houses to my cousin.... there was a 119,000 check in the vehicle.. but what if it would have been cash?? or if it were like p.diddy and he had that kind of cash it wouldnt have been questioned...
its because he was hispanic, didnt speak english and presumed poor thats it... was the guy buying drugs.. could have been.. but you cant arrest him for an unprovable assumption... what a crock of......
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| This Is A Discriminatory Practice | Aug 24th. at 9:46:16 am EDT
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Mar-Garet (Appalachia, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
I hope that someone challenges this!
I know for a fact that many cultures believe in doing their own banking. For instance, in the Rom (Gypsy) culture, it is often the practice for the Chief of the Tribe to hold the money (cash!) for the rest of the Tribe.
There are probably lots of other instances where cash should be allowed to be carried...or else this is discrimination.
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| Gimme A Break | Aug 24th. at 9:13:12 am EDT
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Jeff Kincaid (Lynchburg, Virginia) - Email Me
Gimme a break folks. This is exactly why the War on Drugs, the War on Terrorism, the War on Illiteracy, etc is not working. To many people are all about bucking the system, sticking it to the man, putting down the bourgeois establishment.
This is 2006, not 1969.
This guy was a druggie. If they had caught him on the way up, he would have had drugs, since they caught him on the way back, he had the money. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. The reason they found no evidence of drugs is because …..wait for it……wait for it….. The drugs had been sold…D’OH!
I will quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, from SW 4 – A New Hope “There’s nothing you could have done Luke, had you been there. You’d have been killed too and the droids would now be in the hands of the Empire”
If you had been in the truck, and had resisted, fought, whatever, you would been pepper sprayed, cuff and stuffed and they would have gone about they merry way anyway.
You wanna fight? Do it in the court room where your have a chance of winning. Do it on the street and you will loose.
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| The Heart Of The Matter | Aug 24th. at 1:26:06 am EDT
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J & V Enterprises (Sweetwater, Tennessee) - Email Me
It is interesting to see RICO worship invoked in this case. Considering that there was no linkage to a criminal organization or corrupted company, and the individual himself had not committed 2 of the listed 35 crimes within a 10 year period. For those who chant RICO without knowing that of which they chant, this is the requirements to qualify for prosecution. RICO also does not provide for random seizure of money just because the person does not have a name of Northern European descent. RICO specifically allows for a $25,000 fine and/or 20 year imprisonment and forfeiture of any ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." RICO also provides civil remedies in allowing suite for triple damages by plaintiffs. Again, this is all done by legal proceedings, not by some vigilante with an ill deserved badge.
Let us cut the crap, shall we, and instead address the true nature of what is occurring here. This is nothing more or less than a taxation of those who dare to use any means to store their money than the vault of a bank.
Ah, you say, but banks are trustworthy, and the deposits are insured. In the words of the irascible Col. Potter from M.A.S.H, Bull Hockey. Firstly, banks can and do fail ( [Web LINK] ) , in the right economic conditions they fail on a massive scale. Simply look at the history of this nation, and I am not only referring to the well known Great Depression. In the area of my new home in Tennessee, there have been bank failures as recently as 1982 ( [Web LINK] ) . Secondly, the insurance amount provided by FDIC (or NCUA depending on the type of institution you deposit your funds into) are insured to a maximum of $250,000 per account. These systems are laughably underfunded to the point that it took more than a year to refund money to account-holders who became victims of the 1985 collapse of the Maryland state savings and loan system ( [Web LINK] ) . This collapse in Maryland was only a part of the collapse in the 1980s of savings and loan systems that resulted in the bankruptcy of the FSLIC and it's subsequent merger into the FDIC ( [Web LINK] ) . Given this, do you really think that the FDIC could actually withstand a broad scale economic collapse resulting in the failure of even two or three of the conglomerate mega-banks in existence today? Many of the old timers up here in the hills do not trust banks, they keep their money hidden about their property where they know it is safe and well protected by the firearms that they keep proudly and are not afraid to use in defense of themselves, their possessions, and their freedoms ( [Web LINK] ) .
This is simply a way for crooked law enforcement agencies to add more money to their coffers at the expense of those they were sworn to serve and protect. With a few well place, and sympathetic (or bribed) judges, their continued income is safe while the largess of the citizenry is open to being pillaged.
Yet there is still one little hope in your deluded head that I am wrong about this since the money obviously had drug residue on it. This logic is specious at best since there is no factual information as to how the drugs and money came into contact. The simple fact of the matter is that a large proportion of the currency in circulation in the US has been found to be tainted with drugs ( [Web LINK] ) .
So there you have all of it (after you read through the provided links) , the money is seized, and then rather than being destroyed is put back into circulation through being deposited into a bank. This money comes into contact with other money and contaminates it resulting in further seizures of "tainted money used in drug transaction." Talk about return on your investment, and an illustration of who actually belongs behind bars.
As a simple footnote, I could conjecture and expound for months on the list of people who should be in jail if the simple condition stated in the article was the litmus test for involvement in drug activity. To wit: Possession of a large sum of cash is 'strong evidence' of a connection to drug activity."
Jason
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| Presumed Innocent Until Proven Guilty | Aug 24th. at 12:46:29 am EDT
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karrie9 (Kenosha, Wisconsin) - Email Me - Web
"Modern practices aimed at curing social ills may run against presumption of innocence." [Web LINK]
Unconstitutional and vastly ineffective.
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| Talk About Bias... | Aug 23rd. at 11:45:12 pm EDT
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alkhemy (Sunland, California) - Email Me
"Plus, the money was wrapped like dope would be wrapped. In bundles of aluminum foil & plastic baggies."
True, the money was in a LARGE plastic bag and wrapped in aluminum foil, but here's a quote from the court document:
"The court also concluded, however, that the claimants had given a 'plausible and consistent explanation for [the money's] origin and intended use,' and that 'the bundling is consistent with an attempt to sort the currency by contributor and conceal the currency from would-be thieves,' and not just to evade law enforcement."
Also, drunk driving is a misdemeanor, not a crime. So once again we see strangely intolerant opinions causing certain people to jump to conclusions, and missing the realpoint that is so dangerous...
Gonzales may be a drug dealer, he may not. Either way, he has the right to be considered innocent until PROVEN guilty. But even more importantly, this court has used this case to rule that THE MERE ACT OF CARRYING A LARGE SUM OF MONEY IS NOW A CRIME. Tough luck if like many immigrants, you don't have a bank account or credit cards!
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| By The Way... | Aug 23rd. at 10:22:33 pm EDT
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Amtehuti (Queens, Florida) - Email Me
It's INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.
Plus, if you're not convicted, you're also innocent.
You can't say "job well done" to the troopers when another branch of the government cleared the man of any charges, or is it perhaps that an incoherent obsession with praising the limiting of civil liberties has finally driven the whole country insane?!
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| Of Course... | Aug 23rd. at 10:19:34 pm EDT
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Amtehuti (Queens, Florida) - Email Me
Some believe that the government has unlimited powers to do whatever they please. Cheer the government on for stealing with no apparent reason! Woo!
Ugh.
How in the hell can ANYONE support a cop taking money without a reason? Ah, well, this man was Hispanic. I'm sure many would believe that the media is biased towards minorities and minorities must always commit crimes they're never convicted up.
Yep. Glad I live in this country. Gag.
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| Code Napolean? | Aug 23rd. at 8:56:14 pm EDT
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Ahr-Ohn (Bridgeport, Connecticut) - Email Me
"Despite how suspicious he may or may not have been, this precedent seemingly shifts the burden of proof from the accuser to the accused. It also reinforces American Express's long standing tag line: "Don't leave home without it."
Assett Forfeiture is Code Napolean, rather than Anglo Saxon Law, and should probably be counted as unconstitutional. I'm sure the Trial Lawyers Guild approves of Code Napolean, in which the defendant must prove innocense.
[Web LINK]
I would take Asset Forfeiture as evidence of Repression, but the entire Drug War is Constitutionally questionable.
Now that this fellow has established his innocense, is he still to be taxed for Criminal Proceeds? I'd like to see the Supreme Court find that his being Hispanic is not acceptable as evidence of Drug Trafficking.
Arawn
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| A New Form Of Highway Robbery? | Aug 23rd. at 6:16:14 pm EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
Having driven a few rentals, that is a scary thought. Some enterprising crooked cop might feel justified in trumping up drug- or other charges against anyone carrying a sizable amount of cash, just to enrich himself-- and there is no way you will get it back either.
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| I Wonder... | Aug 23rd. at 5:55:53 pm EDT
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Deni (Danville, Kentucky) - Email Me - Web
Would this man have been suspect if his last name hadn't been Gonzolez?
I tell you what though, a cop would have to shoot me to get $127,000 dollars out of my car. I mean, how I am to know that the cop isn't just going to try to keep it for himself. This may come as a surprise to everybody, but there are corrupt cops out there. *GASP*
But I don't need to worry about it. I'm not likely to ever have that kind of cash in my car. lol
Peace and Love,
Deni
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