Technically, in Florida, police can seize and keep a person’s cash and property without having to make an arrest or wait for a conviction.
Take the Pinellas Park Police Department, for example .
This past October, 25-year-old Detective Chris Ryan was conducting a “random narcotics interdiction” at a Pinellas Park FedEx, located at 9201 MCI Dr., when he was given a package that a driver said smelled like marijuana.
Inside the 2.4-pound package was a jigsaw-puzzle box containing a vacuum-sealed bag stuffed-full of $8,320 in cash. According to police, a drug-sniffing dog later identified a “narcotic odor” coming from the cash.
The package was en-route to Eureka, CA., and, according to the return address, had been sent by 35-year-old Clearwater resident Samuel Archie.
Now, having filed a complaint for forfeiture, the PPPD is seeking permission to keep and use the cash.
Police, believing the cash “was used or was attempted to be used ” in the commission of a felony, cite several factors as to why the seizure is warranted.
First, the cash’s smell, as a drug-dog allegedly confirmed it was consistent with a “narcotic odor.” Second, the fact that California, according to police, is a “source state for marijuana distribution.” And, third, the fact that Archie, earlier this year, was arrested and for drug possession and intent to sell.
Interestingly, earlier this month, State Sen. Jeff Brandes, of St. Petersburg, introduced a bill that would make this kind of police seizure much harder for law enforcement agencies.
“If the state is going to keep your property, you should first actually be convicted of a crime,” said Brandes to the Associated Press. “It’s a matter of property rights and due process.”
Ultimately, the bill is designed to prevent abuses of the current law, since it doesn’t require an arrest or a conviction before assets and property can be seized.
Should the bill get signed into law, clear and convincing evidence that an item being seized was either profits from criminal activity, or used during crimes, will need to be shown.
“The intent has been perverted over time to where we’ve seized a car in Florida for one illegal pill in that car. We’ve taken homes because somebody’s child sold drugs out in front of the property,” Brandes said. “There have been abuses.”
Rep. Matt Caldwell of North Fort Myers is sponsoring a House version of the bill (HB 883).
For now though, the PPPD’s notice of forfeiture against both Archie and a Eureka, CA, man named Lincoln Morris — most likely the intended recipient of the cash — will stand.
Archie has yet to file a response to either notice of forfeiture, though no related criminal charges have been filed against him at this time.
