ScottDLS wrote:Soccerdad1995 wrote:One of my hobbies in playing poker, and it is not uncommon for me to be carrying cash sums that might be considered "large" by some folks. As a precaution, I make sure I carry a recent bank withdrawal slip for an amount equal to or greater than the amount of cash, along with my latest W-2 just in case I need to "prove" where the cash came from. It is beyond sad that I need to do this in what once was a free country.
Fortunately, my income from my "regular" job is enough to easily justify the amount of cash I am carrying. Maybe we can just start getting permits from the government to let us carry cash and other assets......
I wonder what happens if you resist a "civil seizure". Since it isn't an arrest, what if it's strapped to you on a money belt? Are you obligated to cooperate with their detaching it from you. I have a sneaking suspicion that almost all the seizures are "incident to arrest" for a crime that suddenly disappears after they get the money. In this case, presumably the first mistake was consenting to the search. Another reason why one should never consent to a search without a warrant. Of course this is easy for me to say never having been asked to consent to a search of my person or vehicle, but its another reason on my list not to.
Consenting to a search is usually the first mistake in these cases. People naively believe that since they are not doing anything illegal, and "have nothing to hide" then they should go ahead and let the officer see that this is the case so they can go on their way. They don't understand that their cash and other assets can be seized based on the officers suspicion of an illegal source even if there is no evidence of them having committed a crime.
It can also be very difficult for most folks to refuse a search. The LEO is usually much better at convincing people to give consent than the average person is at refusing consent, and most folks can feel pretty darn intimidated until they say OK.
When I was much, much, younger I had a LEO skip the consent entirely. He stopped me, then asked me to step out of the car so he could show me that my tail light was out. After I closed the drivers door, he opened it back up and started poking around in my car. This was before dash cams, or body cams, and I was an ignorant teen ager. I don't think even the most brazen LEO would try to pull that now given the technology we have today.