Opinion ID: 6348579
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: This case began when the State filed a petition pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-431 (Reissue 2016), alleging that on or about August 1, 2020, an officer with the Seward County Sheriff’s Department seized $18,000 from Bouldin. According to the petition, the cash was used or intended to be used to facilitate a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and asked the district court to order that it be forfeited to the State. Shortly thereafter, Bouldin entered his appearance and filed an answer in which he asserted that the cash should be returned to him. The matter was set for trial, but Bouldin did not appear. The only witness to testify was the officer who seized the cash from Bouldin. The officer testified that on the day at issue, he was operating a marked patrol car on Interstate 80 in Seward County, Nebraska. There, he initiated a traffic stop and, later, a search of a vehicle driven by Bouldin. The officer found and seized $18,000 in cash. The officer testified to various pieces of information that he obtained during the stop that led him to believe that Bouldin intended to purchase a large amount of marijuana with the seized money. Among other things, the officer testified that Bouldin told the officer he was traveling from his home in Virginia to Colorado; that a certified drug dog positively indicated the presence of illegal narcotics in the vehicle; that Bouldin’s phone had pictures of marijuana taken in both Virginia and Colorado; that a Colorado area code phone number had sent text messages to Bouldin’s phone containing photographs and video of what the officer identified as marijuana and “THC wax”; that Bouldin had sent text messages to the same number requesting “8 widow” and “8 goat”; - 623 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 311 Nebraska Reports STATE v. $18,000 Cite as 311 Neb. 621 and that in the officer’s opinion, the person using the other phone number was offering to sell marijuana and “THC wax,” and that Bouldin was agreeing to make a purchase. The State also introduced evidence that Bouldin had previously been convicted in Utah of attempted possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. After the trial, the district court entered an order in which it stated that it had found by clear and convincing evidence that the seized cash was used or intended to be used to facilitate a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The district court ordered the cash forfeited to the State and entered an order of distribution. Bouldin filed a timely appeal. ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR On appeal, Bouldin assigns that the district court erred by (1) applying a clear and convincing evidence standard of proof and (2) finding that there was sufficient evidence to order forfeiture.