- 8 - filed a claim in District Court asserting that he owned the currency, that it was not the proceeds of narcotics trafficking, and that evidence of the currency should be suppressed in the District Court proceeding because it was the product of an unconstitutional search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The District Court granted petitioner's motion to suppress the evidence seized in the search and all statements made by petitioner after the search as fruit of the unlawful seizure, stating: What happened on February 28, 1993, as shown by the evidence, is that an experienced officer had a hunch that two young men might be transporting drug proceeds; he did not have probable cause or a reasonable suspicion supported by articulable facts. He stopped and questioned the two men in a way that placed them under his control after the first few moments. Consent given under what the subject feels to be compulsion is not voluntary. * * * Here, if consenting words were in fact uttered, they were not spoken voluntarily. United States v. $138,921 in U.S. Currency, No. C93-1116WD, slip op. at 4-5 (W.D. Wash., July 27, 1994) (order on motion to suppress). The District Court held that the Government did not sustain its burden of proof to show consent and there was no other basis on which the warrantless search could be held lawful. Id. at 5. Petitioner subsequently consented to forfeiture of $18,921 of the seized currency, and the remaining $120,000 was returned to him.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
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