CASE DROPPED, MONEY KEPT

Brunswick Hangs on to Funds From Drug Raids

Money confiscated by Brunswick County officials during a drug raid in
which charges were later dismissed does not have to be returned to the
suspects, according to a decision made this month by the N.C. Court of
Appeals.

The ruling says that federal seizure programs take precedence over the
state's and overturns a Brunswick County Superior Court decision in
May that ordered the Sheriff's Department to return the money.

"It was an entirely lawful act that comes with the price of dealing
drugs," County Attorney Huey Marshall said of the seizure.

Ernest Hill and Morris Hill, not related, had money taken during
separate drug raids at their homes in late 2000.

The Sheriff's Department confiscated suspected drugs and more than
$3,600 from Morris Hill's Longwood home and $4,033 from Ernest Hill's
Shallotte home, contending the cash was obtained through drug
transactions.

Roy Trest, lawyer for both men, had said the Sheriff's Department was
unable to obtain lab results proving the substances they collected
were actually drugs.

The charges were dropped.

The men wanted their money back. Mr. Trest said that the money
confiscated from Morris Hill belonged to his wife and that Ernest Hill
was gainfully employed and had earned his money.

The Sheriff's Department, however, had already forwarded the money to
the U.S. Marshal's Office, where the U.S. Attorney's Office funneled
the funds through forfeiture proceedings under a federal statute.

The program determined the money was drug related, allowing the
Sheriff's Department to keep 80 percent of it.

Brunswick County Superior Court had ordered the Sheriff's Department
to give the money back, ruling the department was violating a state
statute by failing to safely maintain the property it seized and
lacked the authority to forward the cash to the U.S. Marshal's Office.

The county appealed the decision.

The N.C. Court of Appeals said that once a federal agency has adopted
a local seizure, a party may not attempt to thwart the forfeiture in
state courts; at that point the exclusive original jurisdiction is
vested in the federal court. The men could have filed a federal civil
proceeding, but the deadline has passed.