Roderick Daniels claimed that he was stopped and robbed by the police in October 2007. He said police threatened him with money-laundering charges and promised not to prosecute if he signed over the cash. Feeling weak, Daniels agreed to sign.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, David Guillory characterized the policemen’s deed as a systematic fleecing of drivers passing through Tenaha. On Friday, after Shelby County District Attorney Lynda Russell refused repeated requests to discuss cases like Daniels' with CNN, her office filed papers dropping its claim on his property.
"I just feel blessed," Daniels said. "I am happy everything is going good right now. ... I just want to celebrate."
Texas law allows police to confiscate drug money and other personal property they believe are used in the commission of a crime. If no charges are filed or the person is acquitted, the property has to be returned.
Russell issued a statement through her attorneys denying impropriety, and George Bowers, Tenaha's longtime mayor, says his police follow the law. But Guillory, who brought the lawsuit challenging the seizures, called cases like Daniels' "a shakedown" and "a piracy operation."
Guillory said authorities in Tenaha, about 180 miles east of Dallas, seized $3 million from 2006 to 2008. In about 150 cases, virtually all involving African-American or Latino motorists, the seizures were improper, he said.
All defendants in the lawsuit deny wrongdoing. In a written statement, Russell's attorneys said the prosecutor "has used and continues to use prosecutorial discretion ... and is in compliance with Texas law, the Texas constitution and the United States Constitution."
Google News