If you’ve ever gotten pulled over you may be wondering can the police seize your property without making an arrest? Read on to find out.

Florida Search And Seizure Laws

There was a time when seizing the vehicles and other assets of people who were never even charged with a crime was a substantial source of revenue for law enforcement agencies all over Florida, including West Palm Beach and Broward County.

Thankfully, at least here in the Sunshine State, seizing and bringing a civil forfeiture claim against an owner of a property on which drugs or contraband was found is no longer that easy under Florida Statute §932.703.

For a list of what is considered contraband see Florida Statute §932.701.

Assets Seizure and Forfeiture

Asset seizure and forfeiture laws were borne out of an effort to add punishment to drug dealers and other people involved with criminal activities above and beyond criminal prosecution. If someone was found to have drugs or other contraband in their cars, homes, boats or on the premises of other property, a law enforcement agency’s attorney on behalf of the county or city could take that property if they could prove their case by a standard of proof called “clear and convincing evidence.”

The merits of such laws have become dubious as the laws’ enforcement progressed. In practice, the laws encouraged officers to look for the slightest excuse to pull over certain vehicles – sometimes very high-end, expensive cars – with the hope that they might find any amount of drugs or contraband of some sort.  A “seed and stem” from a marijuana plant would be enough to seize a $100,000.00 Mercedes Benz. It mattered none that the driver was not arrested.

It was obvious that many “stops” by officers were directed more at seizing property than at making an arrest or preventing crime. The money from the sale of property seized under our forfeiture and seizure laws were, for the most part, put in budgets to help the law enforcement agency. The property, often an automobile, would be seized and a civil action brought against the property even if no arrest of the person driving the car was made. Or, if an arrest was made, the vehicle may have been seized even if charges were dropped or if the driver was found not guilty after trial.

Property Seizures

When a law enforcement agency seizes a vehicle or other pieces of property, and this could include real estate, the law enforcement agency files a lawsuit that is essentially a civil court action. This requires the owner to retain a private attorney if he or she wants to be represented – a potentially expensive endeavor. Unlike a criminal case, there is no right to an attorney in civil matters under our Constitution. There is no public defender available in seizure proceedings.

Unfortunately, many people who have their car or property seized cannot hire a lawyer to defend themselves; sometimes it wasn’t economically feasible if the car was not worth that much for a person to defend. Therefore, many people in these claims went unrepresented, defaulted and lost their property.

If you live in Palm Beach County or Broward County and have had your property seized by the police call (561) 614-5000 or (954) 947-5000 to talk to Piotrowski Law today!