A DIFFERENT METHOD OF FIGHTING DRUGS

Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Parke Keith sits at his desk
while signing a number of motions of condemnation.

They pile up slowly one after the other before receptionist Ashley Kynard
takes the completed forms to the circuit clerk's office. From there, Dallas
County Sheriff's Department deputies will serve the official paperwork to
defendants.

"It's just a weapon that DA's use in fighting the drug war," Keith explained.

The weapon is the condemnations themselves. Motions of condemnation allow
law enforcement authorities to claim cash, weapons and vehicles gained from
drug sales.

Keith leafs through a couple of condemnations. One asks the court to
condemn a vehicle and $1,600. Another asks for $978 and a weapon.

If defendants choose to contest the condemnation, the district attorney's
office files a civil suit.

"The defendant has to defend it," Keith said of the suit, "but often they
don't."

In that case, the district attorney's office wins by virtue of a default
judgment.

If Keith's office wins the suit, the condemned items go to the arresting
agency. The district attorney's office receives a small percentage of any
money that was confiscated or any money gained from the sale of a condemned
vehicle.

In the case of the Selma Police Department, money gained from a
condemnation is allocated to the department's narcotics division. Equipment
and training for the department's K-9 unit are purchased with the funds.

According to Dallas County Chief Deputy Randy Pugh, when money is gained
from an arrest, it's put in a bank account. Nothing more will happen to it
until a judge tells Pugh's department what to do.

Vehicles are brought to either the Dallas County Jail or a secure site
owned by a wrecker service.

Weapons are treated as money and placed in a vault at the department and
sometimes used by deputies. In some cases, due to the state of the weapon,
it's destroyed. A welding torch is used to cut the weapon in two before
it's discarded.