Woman Appeals to Get $8,000 Back After Police Seized It Without Charging Her With Any Crime
Cristal Starling runs a mobile food cart in Rochester, New York. She dreamed of expanding the business into a food truck, and she saved enough money to do just that. But in the fall of 2020, the local police raided her apartment and seized $8,040—the money she was going to use to pursue her dream. When Cristal attempted to fight against the civil forfeiture of the money, she ran into procedural hurdles that prevented her from making her case in front of a judge. The government never even tried to show that Cristal had done anything wrong.
New York Woman Fights to Have Her Day in Court
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency tried to keep Cristal’s money using the abusive practice of civil forfeiture, which does not require charging her with any crime, let alone securing a conviction.
Cristal teamed up with the Institute for Justice to appeal her case to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking that she be allowed to fight for her savings.
The process for challenging a forfeiture is an incredibly convoluted one and includes various steps along the way where defendants risk losing their money forever, especially without professional legal help.
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