FORFEITURE LAW HELPS FINANCE WAR ON DRUG DEALERS

WEST PALM BEACH - Seizing property has become standard police
practice, one that's also extraordinarily profitable.

In South Florida, when police investigate a crime, they are thinking
about more than just who should be arrested and what the charges
should be. They are also wondering if there is any property involved
that the police department can keep for itself.

They do it all the time: grabbing a car used to drive to a drug deal,
snapping up tools used to strip a stolen car, taking money used to buy
and sell drugs, or keeping a computer used to download child
pornography. They can take any property used in a felony.

Police see the forfeiture law as one of their most powerful weapons
against crime. But a Palm Beach Post examination of how the law is
used shows:

- -- Sometimes innocent people lose their property. For example, if you
lend your car to someone to buy groceries and they get caught buying
crack instead, the police can take your car and you may not get it
back.

- -- Nearly half the people whose property is seized - and a third of
those who lose it in court - are not convicted of a crime.

- -- Poor defendants are hurt by the law more than the big-time drug
dealers and criminals who can afford to hire lawyers.

- -- Even some police and their lawyers admit police make decisions on
seized property based on money, not justice.

Police in Florida collected $124 million this way from April 1996 to
March 1999 - including $7.4 million seized in Palm Beach County, the
third-highest total for any county. Millions more was collected by
federal authorities and shared with local police.

The Palm Beach County, Sheriff's Office hauled in $4.3 million, making
it the most aggressive agency in the county. St. Lucie County
authorities seized just over $1 million in that time, and police in
Martin County collected $501,000.

With this money, police can bankroll long investigations, buy
high-tech equipment, meet state and federal grant goals, and assist
crime prevention programs. Last year, for example, the Palm Beach
County Sheriffs Office used $453,000 in seized assets to buy,

The Palm Beach County, Sheriff's Office hauled in $4.3 million, making
it the most aggressive agency in the county. St. Lucie County
authorities seized just over $1, million in that time, and police in
Martin County collected $501,000.

With this money, police can bankroll long investigations, buy
high-tech equipment, meet state and federal grant goals, and assist
crime prevention programs. Last year, for example, the Palm Beach
County Sheriffs Office used $453,000 in seized assets to buy, among
other things, six video cameras for patrol cars, 10 bulletproof vests,
25 bicycles and 27 "less lethal" weapons that fire beanbag and
polyurethane bullets. The sheriffs office also donated $328,000 to
various youth groups and anti drug programs.

Police are supposed to look at forfeitures as a way to prevent crime
by stripping criminals of their tainted wealth. But in practice, as
police and property own duel over the stakes, nearly every move and
countermove is made with money in mind: The police want to collect as
much money as possible while spending little, and property owners try
to get back much as they can without placing themselves at risk in
criminal court.

"It's like its own little ball park," said Catherine Kozol, legal
adviser to the Delray Beach Police Department. "It's kind of a game. I
hate to say it that way, but it is. It's who can outsmart who."

The peculiar nature of forfeiture law has spawned a court system unto
itself - one that blends criminal issues with the rules of civil
lawsuit. Defense lawyers say this system is harder on the poor than on
high-powered drug traffickers. For every major seizure that can be
linked to a large drug organization, police seize dozens of cars from
people possessing small amounts of drugs, or those accused of a
comparably minor crime.

"The statute had some good intentions to punish the big-time
trafficker," said Stephen Melnick, a lawyer who once prosecuted
forfeiture cases for the Boca Raton Police Department. "But the only
one getting punished is the smalltime user."

"They [police] use forfeiture law to raise money," said Jim Eisenberg,
a West Palm Beach defense lawyer who handles dozens of seizures every
year. "It's the most regressive tax that's ever been established. It's
the poor that get hit the hardest."

Once a seizure has been made, the owner is thrust into a complicated
legal process separate from any criminal charges he may face.

In fact, the police can seize property without even arresting anyone.
Forfeiture law is based on the premise that the property itself is at
fault, regardless of who owns it. The standard of proof needed for the
police to keep property is lower than the standard necessary to make
an arrest. Property owners must fight the police at their own expense,
and even those who are cleared of criminal charges can lose their belongings.

A Palm Beach Post analysis of 678 seizures in Palm Beach County from
1996 to 1998 shows that property owners who have their belongings
taken by the police are found guilty in about 50 percent of the cases.

The analysis shows that this system can put the poor at a
disadvantage. For example:

- -- Defendants represented by the public defender in criminal court are
more likely to lose their property entirely, because the public
defender is barred from handling forfeiture cases. Private lawyers
hired to fight the criminal charges typically negotiate a settlement
with the police in return for the property.

- -- Because they didn't have a lawyer, some defendants have lost their
property for as little as a $5 crack rock, even though seizures over
such a small amount of drugs could be considered an excessive fine
under the Constitution.

- -- So-called "innocent owners," those whose cars were used in a crime
without their knowledge, sometimes must pay an "administrative fee" to
get their cars back usually about $250.

Over the years, police in Palm Beach County have seized all sorts of
items: guns, cameras, computers, boats, engines, cellular phones, Jet
Skis, jewelry, even an airplane (which crashed with 777 pounds of
cocaine on board) and a golf cart (the getaway car in a Boca Raton
burglary). But cash and cars are the most common.

In St. Lucie County, the Sheriffs Office files just two or three
forfeiture cases a month. But because it often costs more to file the
cases than it's worth, the Sheriffs Office usually just levies fees -
usually between $250 and $750 - that suspects must pay to get vehicles
back.