Nothing in state law requires law enforcement to return money seized during criminal...
But with property confiscated by Goines and his team, “Prosecutors are currently reviewing several cases related to Squad 15 to determine if they involve assets that should be returned to members of the community,” said Dane Schiller, spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Calling a 2016 Squad 15 drug raid “a due process disaster,” District Attorney Kim Ogg this summer tossed a criminal conviction stemming from the case after investigators determined Goines had lied about that operation, too. The $2,700Lawyers say there are several reasons police and prosecutors might keep even tainted money. Agencies enjoy the steady flow of confiscated cash. There also is no law saying they must return seized property — in Texas, even if police break the law to get it.
“There is no ready legal mechanism for getting money back,” said Mike Ware, director of the Innocence Project of Texas and the Texas A&M School of Law Innocence Project Clinic. “There is no governor’s pardon for cash. There is no habeas corpus for cash.” The Institute, a libertarian-leaning Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that fights government overreach, has filed several lawsuits claiming police improperly seized citizens’ property, including one against Harris County. The organization argues law enforcement overuses civil forfeiture because agencies typically get to keep some of the confiscated cash, skewing police work toward operations with a payoff.
Officers seized $1,696. The money was returned after Silverman contested the forfeiture. Prosecutors dismissed Johnson’s marijuana possession charges three months after the Harding raid because Goines’ participation “made further prosecution problematic,” court documents say.Police and prosecutors say asset forfeiture is an essential tool to weaken criminal operations and that there are ample legal rules to protect innocent citizens from having their property taken without good cause.
They add up. Houston police have collected $3 million to $4 million annually in recent years. Ogg’s office has used forfeiture money to fund crime diversion, anti-gang programs and non-profits — including at least $600,000 to. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in seized funds to local nonprofits.
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