One legal tool authorities use to fight crime is asset seizure and asset forfeiture. Federal and California forfeiture laws allow the government/law enforcement to seize personal property and assets believed to be connected to criminal activity. This can be a highly controversial action, because it may affect more than the alleged criminals. It could do harm to their families as well. It is also a challenge to prove what items were and were not purchased using money from illegal activities. For example, police have attempted to claim the houses of those who are committing crimes, and the burden of proving what money was used on the house purchase is placed on the defense.
In a legal move that city officials characterized as the first of its kind in the state, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's office has secured a $5 million civil judgment against the Downtown-based Fifth and Hill gang. It allows the city to try to seize $4.2 million in gang members' ill-gotten assets; the remaining $800,000 does not need to be tied to illegal activities.
The latter part of the action stems from Senate Bill 1126, which allows prosecutors to collect assets not linked to criminal activity from any named gang members. The regulation essentially allows the city to treat gangs as businesses, Delgadillo said at a press conference at Pershing Square on Tuesday, Jan. 13. "Just because Fifth and Hill doesn't have articles of incorporation, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to treat them the way we treat bad corporations," Delgadillo said. City Attorney officials said the $5 million judgment represents a conservative estimate of the costs incurred over the last 20 years by the city and businesses, mainly in graffiti removal and security, as the result of the gang's activities. The gang had long used Pershing Square for its heroin sales in the area, Delgadillo said. Those activities have been significantly handcuffed since the city secured an injunction against the gang last February, police officials said.
There are other major controversies to asset seizure, including:
- The police can take any possession (house, car, boat, jewelry, cash) without paying for it, even if you haven't been charged with a crime.
- They can keep your property for as long as they want, and they basically write the rules for how to get that property back (if you can at all).
- Generally, under California law, you would have 30 days to respond to a notice of seizure or notice of forfeiture proceedings. If you do not respond in that time period, you may not even have a chance to fight for the property the government is threatening to take away.
