Police Forced to Return Tens of Thousands of Dollars Confiscated from Innocent Trucker in 2020

A North Carolina man’s almost three-year-long battle to get his own money back has reached a victory — but the fight isn’t over yet. Jerry Johnson, a Charlotte resident who owns a small trucking company, flew into…

IJR SyndicatedMar 26, 20234 min read

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The Arizona Republic

— a trial court dismissed his effort.

After that, the Institute for Justice, a non-profit law firm with an extensive track record of fighting civil forfeiture cases, took on Johnson’s case, according to an Institute for Justice news release.

The Arizona Court of Appeals has sided with Johnson, saying his due process rights were violated.

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“I’m sorry if it seems harsh that the state should actually have to come forward with evidence before it takes people’s money away at the airport,” Judge Peter Swann said, according to the Republic.

Eventually, the state moved to dismiss the case and paid Johnson $40,298, which included his original sum and a tiny amount of interest.

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In the news release, Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Dan Alban called the Johnson case an example of the injustice of civil forfeiture law.

In May 2021, then-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law overwhelmingly passed by the state House and Senate to reform the state’s civil forfeiture law to make it more difficult for officials to seize individuals’ property, according to The Associated Press.

But Johnson’s case lingered on.

“Jerry’s case potently illustrates the injustice of civil forfeiture even when someone ultimately gets their property back,” Alban said in the news release.

“It took 31 months for Jerry to finally get his savings back even though he was never even charged with a crime. In the middle of the COVID pandemic, Jerry had to find a way to keep operating his small trucking business after its working capital was seized,” he said.

“Jerry still needs to be made whole,” he said.

Johnson received less than 0.8% in accrued interest and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office would not pay the attorney fees Johnson racked up before the Institute for Justice took his case.

“This would leave Jerry uncompensated for the years his money was locked away and for what he paid out-of-pocket to an attorney before IJ took on his case,” the Institute for Justice release stated.

The Institute for Justice said it pursuing to get Johnson reimbursed for all of the money he has spent on the case.

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“It’s a blessing to finally have my savings back so that I can invest it in my business,” Johnson said in the release.

“That the government could take my money, never charge me with a crime but hold onto my savings for so long is outrageous. It created a tremendous financial burden for me and my family, and there were a lot of business opportunities I’ve missed out on because that money was just sitting in a government account,” he said

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.