KC POLICE SUED IN DRUG CASES; HIGHWAY PATROL ALSO A DEFENDANT ON FORFEITURE
ISSUE

A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Jackson County on
behalf of hundreds of people whose money or property may have been
taken illegally by police in drug cases.

The lawsuit stems from a Clay County judge's ruling earlier this month
that ordered the Kansas City Police Department to return more than
$34,000 plus interest to an imprisoned drug felon, Vincent Karpierz.

Kansas City police violated the law when they seized Karpierz's money
and gave it to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration instead of
going through state court, an appellate court has ruled. The DEA
returned $21,000 to the Police Department.

Kansas City police officials said Friday that they planned to appeal
the Karpierz decision.

For years police in Missouri have worked with the federal government
to keep forfeited funds. If the money were forfeited under state law,
it would usually go to fund public education instead of back to police
departments.

The class-action lawsuit names the Kansas City Police Department and
the Missouri Highway Patrol as defendants. It cites one case involving
a $38,000 seizure.

If it is approved by a judge, the lawsuit will cover similar cases
that occurred in the last five years, said James McMullin, one of the
two lawyers who filed the lawsuit. During that time the two agencies
have handed off millions of dollars in cash and property to federal
agencies.

The first step will be to get a judge to certify the case as a
class-action lawsuit, said McMullin, who was the attorney in the
Karpierz lawsuit.

If that happens, McMullin said, class-action lawsuits will be filed
county by county as he finds the cases. McMullin said he had received
calls from a number of defense attorneys, including some in St. Louis,
who have potential cases.

As a result, McMullin said, the effect of the lawsuit may be felt
across the state.

"The potential here is huge," he said.

U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that over five years, it
has returned more than $31 million to law enforcement in Missouri.

On Friday, Dennis Eckold, president of the Kansas City Board of Police
Commissioners, said the department planned to appeal the judge's
ruling ordering the department to return the money to Karpierz. The
important issue, he said, is not whether education or law enforcement
should get the money.

"We don't want the convicted drug felon to receive these funds,"
Eckold said.

And especially in light of the new lawsuit, he said, "It is very
critical that we appeal."

Police Chief Rick Easley said he had not seen the lawsuit and could
not comment. He has said that police are now following the law.

Anthony Horvath, attorney for the Highway Patrol, also said he had not
had time to review the case and could not comment. Horvath, too, said
troopers were following Missouri law.

The Kansas City Star, however, has found numerous cases in which
troopers have handed off seizures totaling millions of dollars to
federal agencies without a transfer order from a state court.

On Friday state Sen. Harry Wiggins told the Greater Kansas City
Chamber of Commerce that his bill to try to stop police from breaking
the law might be the most important bill of the legislative session.

"We need to correct this bizarre situation and quit cheating
education," Wiggins said.

The petitioners in the class-action lawsuit are Mark Wynn of Kansas
City and Albert Pearsall of Albuquerque, N.M., who were arrested on
drug charges in November 1999.

Pearsall was stopped by a trooper near Carthage on Interstate 44 for a
traffic violation. The trooper found more than 4 pounds of cocaine in
his minivan.

Pearsall said he was driving to Kansas City to deliver it to Wynn and
agreed to do a controlled delivery, McMullin said.

He met Wynn in a parking lot in Lee's Summit while being observed by
troopers and Kansas City police officers.

The men were arrested, and later police and the troopers went to
Wynn's home, where they found $38,605 in a safe.

The money was forfeited to the federal government recently, even
though state law says money seized by local police, even when
deputized by a federal agency, must go through a state court.

Wynn has pleaded guilty in federal court on the drug charges and is
awaiting sentencing. Pearsall's status is unknown.