Iowa Troopers Steal $100,000 in Poker Winnings From Two Players Driving Through the State - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Jacob Sullum:
October 1, 2014 - "The Des Moines Register highlights an Iowa forfeiture case, the subject of a federal lawsuit filed this week, in which state troopers took $100,000 in winnings from two California poker players traveling through the state on their way back from a World Series of Poker event in Joliet, Illinois. The case illustrates several of the themes I discussed in a recent column explaining how cops became highway robbers....
"On the morning of April 15, 2013, Trooper Justin Simmons, who is part of an 'interdiction team' that looks for contraband and money to seize, pulled over William Davis and John Newmerzhycky, who were traveling west on Interstate 80 in a rental car, a red Nissan Altima. Simmons later said he had received a vague tip from 'an Illinois law enforcement officer' to be on the lookout for a red car, but he did not know why.... So instead he claimed that he pulled Davis and Newmerzhycky over because Newmerzhycky, who was driving, failed to signal as he passed a black SUV. But as can be seen in the video recorded by Simmons' dashcam (starting around the 00:28 mark), Newmerzhycky did signal....
"Simmons asks for permission to search the car. Newmerzhycky says no.... Refusing to take no for an answer, Simmons says Newmerzhycky seems nervous (who wouldn't be in these circumstances?), and he uses that observation as justification for calling Trooper Eric VanderWiel, a K-9 officer with a drug-detecting dog.... VanderWiel's dog supposedly alerted to the back of the car, at a point where the dog was conveniently hidden from the dashcam....
"The troopers found $85,000 inside Davis' locked briefcase, plus another $15,000 in Newmerzhycky's computer bag, where they also found a grinder with bits of marijuana in it, which resulted in a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia — the only Iowa charge brought against either man....
"Ultimately the state agreed to return $90,000 of the two men's money, a third of which was consumed by legal fees."
Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2014/10/01/iowa-troopers-steal-100000-in-poker-winn
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October 1, 2014 - "The Des Moines Register highlights an Iowa forfeiture case, the subject of a federal lawsuit filed this week, in which state troopers took $100,000 in winnings from two California poker players traveling through the state on their way back from a World Series of Poker event in Joliet, Illinois. The case illustrates several of the themes I discussed in a recent column explaining how cops became highway robbers....
"On the morning of April 15, 2013, Trooper Justin Simmons, who is part of an 'interdiction team' that looks for contraband and money to seize, pulled over William Davis and John Newmerzhycky, who were traveling west on Interstate 80 in a rental car, a red Nissan Altima. Simmons later said he had received a vague tip from 'an Illinois law enforcement officer' to be on the lookout for a red car, but he did not know why.... So instead he claimed that he pulled Davis and Newmerzhycky over because Newmerzhycky, who was driving, failed to signal as he passed a black SUV. But as can be seen in the video recorded by Simmons' dashcam (starting around the 00:28 mark), Newmerzhycky did signal....
"Simmons asks for permission to search the car. Newmerzhycky says no.... Refusing to take no for an answer, Simmons says Newmerzhycky seems nervous (who wouldn't be in these circumstances?), and he uses that observation as justification for calling Trooper Eric VanderWiel, a K-9 officer with a drug-detecting dog.... VanderWiel's dog supposedly alerted to the back of the car, at a point where the dog was conveniently hidden from the dashcam....
"The troopers found $85,000 inside Davis' locked briefcase, plus another $15,000 in Newmerzhycky's computer bag, where they also found a grinder with bits of marijuana in it, which resulted in a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia — the only Iowa charge brought against either man....
"Ultimately the state agreed to return $90,000 of the two men's money, a third of which was consumed by legal fees."
Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2014/10/01/iowa-troopers-steal-100000-in-poker-winn
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