That was every penny I had in the world. Sunflower spent Tuesday night in the Lincoln County Jail. Sunflower said he made arrangements with the court to pay the two fines, then drove out to the Nebraska State Patrol's Troop D Headquarters to get his life's savings back. They wouldn't give it to him. I guess that's what I'll have to do.
Police often seize money and property they believe is involved with illegal activity.
The suspect can contest the seizure in court. If prosecutors prove the seized property was purchased with drug money or that the money seized was used in illegal activity, the government gets the loot. Critics say asset forfeiture shifts the burden of proof to the property owner accused of a crime, and that the procedure allows a burden of proof on the government that is too low. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that county attorneys can't seize suspected drug assets in civil court and file criminal charges against the person they seize it from in criminal court. Lincoln County District Judge Donald E. Rowlands said, in a case tried in 1997, that a criminal trial for a defendant would constitute double jeopardy since the state took his money in order to punish him at the time he was arrested.