At least this stripper boyfriend appears to have a job, although it's probably not a legal one.
When the couples defense lawyer was trying to make the statement that the money came from tips from a strip club and not drug money, he said:
“I felt that the glitter on the seized cash was compelling evidence, but apparently the police department disagreed."
"But at the hearing, a fellow stripper named Haley Heath testified that her friend, Batista, earned "significant cash tips" at the Cheetah club."
Strippers can make $20,000 in cash. But could they actually keep that much?
Just two law abiding citizens carrying $20,000 in singles, assault weapons and codeine. Yeah - I’m gullible! What else would you like to sell me?
I agree that these fine upstanding citizens are likely to be involved in illegal activities bu, no disrespect, the cops living up to the letter of the law is important if we actually want to live in a free country.
They didn't say whether the cough syrup or marijuana oil were found as part of the illegal search but even if they were in plain sight they should only get whatever slap on the wrist goes with possession of those drugs. If the drugs were found as part of the illegal search then they shouldn't even get that. We have the 4th amendment for a reason.
The guy owned his guns legally. You can disagree and say that the guns he possessed shouldn't be allowed or say that the 2nd amendment says he has that right to have them (if I know TUSCLers right a few will be vociferous in defending the 2nd). I think that as long as he wasn't a felon he should be allowed the guns, so no harm no foul on their part. Again, I don't know if any of the guns were in plain sight but if they were only found as part of the illegal search then they violated their 4th amendment rights.
And civil forfeiture laws are evil. If the police can prove the money was obtained illegally in a court of law then fine, they can seize the money. But, if not, you should be able to keep your money in a free country.
Like I said, I'd bet they were going to set up a deal to get drugs for sale. But it sounds like what they had was minimal and was mostly or completely found as part of an illegal search. The bill of rights may let genuine criminals off the hook but if we don't take it seriously as a society then we don't live in a free country.
I am not pro-drug personally (though I favor legalization of some drugs as long as people don't endanger others when they are high) but even if you're anti-drug you should prefer to pay the cost of letting some criminals off if you want a free country.
However, the IRS might think about checking whether these fine citizens are paying an appropriate amount in taxes.
Sorry to all for posting a long treatise like BurlingtonHoFactory (no disrespect to BurlingtonHoFactory; he does his thing and I respect that). Now back to 4got posting goofy shit on a web site for deviants!
4got2wipe you are correct. My comment was obnoxious. Regardless of what they were going to do - the illegal actions of the police officers - and each item found (on its own) - doesn’t prove criminality.
Not obnoxious Cashman1234, just a joke/non-serious comment and a valid one at that.
I did really go on! Regardless, there is the non-serious aspect of this (they were probably criminals and criminals should get what they deserve) and the serious aspect (in a free country cops have to have limits and we should be considered innocent by the state until proven guilty)
Most grown ups (like you) know the difference between light-hearted "probably dangerous criminals so they get what they deserve" and the serious "hey, if the gov't can violate their rights it can also violate mine".
On the other hand, there are a few TUSCLers (who shall remain nameless) who don't understand that! And that's kind of non-brilliant! ;)
"If this was 10 years ago, cops would have probably kept that money under civil forfeiture policies."
They still do. All the time. A client we just started representing is now out several thousand dollars after the police seized it (civil forfeiture) although it had absolutely nothing to do with his charges. In order to get it back, he will have to sue them for it, or they will sue him and he will do a countersuit, even after his charges are dropped and/or he is found not guilty.
Another client from the past had about 1M in cash and assets stolen from him from the cops (that's what I call it, stealing), for "drug charges" and after he was cleared of that he had to sue them and ended up getting it all back.
Another more recent one got two of his cars and three of his guns (all owned and obtained legally) stolen from him by the cops. He is in the process of suing them to get his property back. They've now offered to give him his cars back but after sitting in their impound lot for so long it'll cost him like 10K per car or some crazy amount. They also decided to bust out all his windows before they left his house as well as take a shit in his bathroom with the door open and clog the toilet. That particular cases is DPD, so of course they're insane. And they did not even charged this man with a crime when they seized his property or after. He was given no charges. They just came, raided his house, and stole from him.
Some of this shit falls from the slowly evolving police state that the false patriots in this country are promoting. It’s not much of a stretch from xenophobia to for any thinking person, to watch the erosion of our liberties in the name of protecting us from criminals, and terrorists. This started with the empowerment of police, and keeps stretching tha boundaries, that is the real reason, that I’m worried about the Supreme Court nominations, if they can reverse Roe v Wade, your right to privacy is going to be severely impacted, and these seizures of private property will get easier and more common.
This story is a typical Carl Hiaasen subplot!
Just announced on Miami’s fox station the court ordered the return of the cash and firearms to the owner.
"... From the car, patrol officers seized six guns, three of them assault-style rifles, plus the cash, suspected marijuana oil and several bottles of powerful codeine cough syrup without a valid prescription ..."
The lives these girls live and the people they associate themselves w/ - who the hell carries 6 guns around including assault rifles.
"... The Miami-Dade police department's legal bureau, suspecting it was dope money, asked a civil-court judge to allow the department to keep the $19,934 seized in the car ..."
Who the hell carries $20k in cash around - again some of the lives these girls live - definitely not conventional
Turns out the guns were legally owned, and the guy had the appropriate permit, the drugs were legal, and the money was hers.
Score one for the good guys.
When I’m President, I’m going to petition SCOTUS to rule asset forfeiture to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
If this was 10 years ago, cops would have probably kept that money under civil forfeiture policies.