POLICE SEIZURE OF ITEMS SPURS REFORM EFFORT

Black Mororists Sue Officials In E. Texas; Mayor Defends Acts

SAN ANTONIO - A state law that allows authorities to seize property is
being used by some to grab cash, jewelry, vehicles and other valuables
without so much as a criminal charge, never mind a conviction.

Law enforcement officers in Tenaha, a chicken farming town of 1,000
people near the Louisiana line, took property from at least 140
motorists between 2006 and 2008 - filing criminal charges against
fewer than half, according to court documents reviewed by the San
Antonio Express-News.

In some cases, affidavits filed by officers relied on the presence of
seemingly innocent property as the only evidence that a crime had
occurred, but motorists were told to waive their rights to the
property or face jail and criminal charges, said attorney David
Guillory, who represents a group of motorists who have filed suit
against officials in the town and Shelby County.

All 10 of Guillory's clients are black and were driving rental cars or
vehicles with out-of-state plates.

The chairman of the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee, Sen. John
Whitmire, said enough jurisdictions across the state have abused the
law over the last two decades that it's due for an overhaul. The
Houston Democrat wants to rewrite major sections of the law this
legislative session.

One of Guillory's clients, Linda Dorman, a great-grandmother from
Akron, Ohio, had $4,000 in cash taken from her when she was stopped on
her way home from Houston in April 2007. Court records list nothing
illegal found in her van. The money, she said, was her life savings.

Under Texas' civil forfeiture law, authorities must only show by a
preponderance of evidence that the money was the proceeds of or
purchased with the proceeds of certain crimes, such as drug crimes.

The burden is much lower than in a criminal case, and it allows police
and prosecutors to divvy up what they seize - something critics say
works as an incentive for unscrupulous police agencies to strip
motorists of their property.

Supporters, however, say that when used right, the law allows police
to go after criminals using their own money.

Tenaha Mayor George Bowers defended the seizures in his town, saying
they allowed the city to add a second police car and helped fund a new
police station.

The Associated Press