ONE MAN'S BATTLE WITH PROPERTY SEIZURE LAW

Robert Doyle knew his 23-year-old daughter, Dina, had been running with the
wrong crowd and that she had been arrested for drug possession.

But the Glendale Heights man says he didn't fully understand the depth of
his daughter's troubles.

That is, until last August when police confiscated the 1998 Chevrolet
Corvette he had purchased only 14 months earlier, arguing it was linked to
drug crimes.

Now, nearly a year later, Doyle still is fighting to get the car back.

"I never thought something like this could happen in this country," said
the 63-year-old Korean War veteran. "I feel like my rights have been
violated. It's heartbreaking."

At issue is the state's controversial civil forfeiture law, which allows
police to seize your property, including cars, cash and houses, that they
suspect of being used in a crime. There are dozens of property seizures in
DuPage County every year.

Supporters argue the forfeiture law often is a greater deterrent, and
punishment, than jail.

They contend the money, which must be used only for law enforcement
purposes, such as police training, computers and bullet-resistant vests,
benefits taxpayers who would otherwise be called upon to pick up the tab.

Rarely has an issue made such strange bedfellows. Those challenging the law
range from the ACLU to the National Rifle Association.

They argue that people such as Doyle have been forced to endure
unnecessary, messy legal battles in efforts to get their property back.

Doyle is not accused of any wrongdoing, but authorities contend his
daughter is partial owner of the Corvette and that she was implicated in
three drug-related arrests.

And all three times the Corvette was involved.

Police took the car Aug. 28 from Doyle's driveway after, they maintain, one
of Dina Doyle's friends attempted to hide a tiny tinfoil package of heroin
inside.

Police visited the house on the 100 block of East Montana to serve Dina
Doyle with a warrant for an outstanding theft charge.

When they pulled up, the friend, Michael R. Mohr, is accused of tossing the
drugs onto the car's floor while Dina Doyle stood outside, removing a
suitcase from the car's trunk.

Only Mohr, 24, of Forest Park, was charged with possession of a controlled
substance. His case still is pending.

Dina Doyle also was arrested August 13, 1999, for having heroin in her
purse while riding as a passenger in the Corvette. Mohr was driving.

A few months later in December, Dina Doyle again was stopped by police who,
upon investigation, said they found a rolled-up dollar bill in her purse
that had white powdery residue. It tested positive for heroin, court
records show.

She pleaded guilty March 21 to both drug-related charges. She was sentenced
to 16 months in Dwight Correctional Center after failing to complete
substance abuse counseling and also testing positive for cocaine on July
26, 2000.

She is expected to be released from prison September 30, according to state
correction officials.

Dina Doyle had not been living at home during the arrests. Her parents
weren't aware of all her arrests, which also include possession of
marijuana in Cook County. Had they known, Dina Doyle's use of the car would
have been restricted, her brother, Leon Wallace says.

"We're not saying she doesn't deserve to be punished but why hurt the whole
family?" Wallace said. "It isn't fair. My father never did anything wrong."

DuPage Circuit Judge Bonnie Wheaton ruled March 9 that Dina Doyle was
partial owner of the Corvette and that she knowingly allowed drugs to be
kept in the 1998 Corvette. Wheaton ordered the car, worth $39,000 according
to court records, to be forfeited to law enforcement.

Robert Doyle returns to court on Tuesday to ask Wheaton to reconsider her
ruling. Should the judge deny his request, Doyle says he'll appeal.

He contends the Corvette is a family car, one of several he owns and allows
his children to drive. Dina Doyle's name is not on the title.

"She (Dina Doyle) tried to get the car on her own but she didn't have
enough credit," he said. "All she did was fill out a credit application,
and they claim the car is hers. We all drive the car. It belongs to all of us."

Prosecutors weren't so easily convinced.

In court, they supplied the judge with a $15,000 check Dina Doyle wrote for
the down payment. They contend she also signed paperwork and listed herself
as a co-buyer.

She also admitted to police, prosecutors say, that she was aware Mohr had
the drugs in the Corvette - an allegation the Doyle family denies.

"The case law is crystal clear," prosecutor Scott Kent said. "If you allow
your car to be used for the commission of an offense, you make your car
subject to being forfeited.

Robert Doyle maintains he and his daughter kept the $15,000 used as a
downpayment in a joint account and that, on the day they bought the car,
she simply wrote the check because he forgot his checkbook.

"Bob Doyle is the owner of the car," said Michelle Moore, an Oak Brook
attorney whom Doyle hired to handle the appeal. "She (his daughter) was
involved in the purchase of the car, but she is not the owner. There is
nothing in the law to support their argument."

Besides the ownership issue, Moore is challenging the judge's ruling on
many other fronts.

She argues Robert Doyle had no knowledge of the illegal activity. Moore
also maintains the seizure is excessive, since the prior arrests involved
miniscule amounts of drugs - one of which included the heroin residue found
on money.

Furthermore, she says the Corvette must be used in a more instrumental way
to commit a crime in order for police to seize the property.

"It's a real stretch, what they've done," Moore said. "The intent of the
law is to go after dealers, not low-level users."

Though drug-law reform is something many people might consider an issue for
social liberals to tackle, social conservative Congressman Henry Hyde of
Wood Dale, best known nationally for his abortion opposition, had pushed
for federal change for years. He even wrote a 1995 book on the subject in
which he calls asset forfeiture laws "terribly unjust" and "wrong."

ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka said the Doyle case is not unique.

"It (forfeiture law) really has ended up hurting moms, dads and
grandparents because, the fact is, the people who get caught up in these
laws are usually regular citizens like you and me," he argues. "They're not
drug kingpins.

"These laws have extended far beyond their original intent."

Meanwhile, Robert Doyle says he's growing increasingly frustrated. Besides
the equity he has in the car, he worries his credit will be ruined because
no one has been making payments. The bank keeps calling, threatening to
garnish the wages of his wife, Phyllis.

"This has been so upsetting to me, financially and medically," Doyle said.
"We just want the car back. We're not seeking revenge. But the way it went
down, it's just not fair to me.

"How much can you take? We don't have the money to fight them forever."