Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions
Without wanting to offer an opinion on the case presented in this article, and certainly not wanting to argue in favor of civil asset forfeiture, which is obviously abused nationwide, the author of this news piece definitely smoothed down the facts alleged in Bouldin&#x27;s case:<p><i>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&#x27;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&#x27;s phone containing photographs and video of what the officer identified as marijuana and &quot;THC wax&quot;; that Bouldin had sent text messages to the same number requesting &quot;8 widow&quot; and &quot;8 goat&quot;;  and that in the officer&#x27;s opinion, the person using the other phone number was offering to sell marijuana and &quot;THC wax,&quot; 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.</i><p>Bouldin&#x27;s attorney did an abysmal job with this case, with Bouldin originally failing to appear at all, and then filing an appeal that failed to state any meaningful arguments. Again: obviously, there&#x27;s a counterpoint that people shouldn&#x27;t have to hire lawyers to keep their cash, I get it.