Man fights to get back $39,500 he lost in civil forfeiture case
“What happened here was contrary to Arizona’s statutes and contrary to the Constitution.” Paul Avelar
Managing attorney for the Institute for Justice’s Arizona office
A man whom Phoenix police seized $39,500 from without submitting criminal charges against him will have his chance to get the money back more than a year later.
Jerry Johnson had flown from Charlotte, North Carolina in August 2020 to purchase a third semitruck for his small shipping company. Johnson had found a posting for a truck he wanted at a Phoenix-based auction and flew to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport with $39,500 in cash — $7,500 in his carry-on backpack and $32,000 in boxes he had packed in his checked luggage.
Johnson previously told The Arizona Republic he chose to travel with cash to avoid incurring fees from withdrawing it outside his usual bank and had found articles that said traveling with large amounts of cash was perfectly legal.
Phoenix officers in plainclothes stopped Johnson as he retrieved his luggage and interrogated him about why he had come to Phoenix and if he was carrying any large sums of cash. Johnson explained he intended to purchase another truck for his small business.
The officer accused Johnson of being involved in a money-laundering scheme and began asking him questions such as who had purchased his plane ticket. Johnson repeatedly denied the accusations until the officer filled out a form and ordered Johnson to sign or spend the night in a jail cell.
Johnson previously told The Republic he didn’t understand what he was signing at the time but later learned it was a waiver form indicating the money he had brought with him wasn’t his. Johnson was free to go after signing the form, but his money remained in police custody.
Johnson hired an attorney and provided business documents, bank
statements and tax returns to prove the money was his and he wasn’t involved in a criminal enterprise. However, the court deemed the evidence was insufficient and refused to award any of the money back to him.
Johnson was researching laws surrounding civil forfeiture when he came across a Virginia-based libertarian nonprofit called Institute for Justice, which has written about and litigated civil-forfeiture cases. Attorneys with the Institute for Justice learned more about his case and agreed to appeal the lower court’s decision.
Paul Avelar, a managing attorney for the Institute for Justice’s Arizona office, previously told The Republic that Maricopa County Superior Court erred in not returning the money and its refusal to do so violated state and constitutional law.
The Arizona Legislature has since passed a civil forfeiture reform bill that bars law enforcement from coercing people into signing such waivers and made it much more difficult for the government to keep seized assets without a criminal conviction.
Those who supported reform argued that civil forfeiture laws made getting one’s seized assets back financially unfeasible as the attorney’s fees often necessary to file a legitimate claim often exceeded the monetary value of the asset.
Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel opposed the reforms and urged Gov. Doug Ducey not to sign the reform bill, arguing it would allow criminal syndicates to operate unhindered.
After Ducey signed it into law anyway, Adel indicated she might attempt to get new legislation passed next session revising some of the reforms.
Institute for Justice says Johnson’s story helped change the law. Although the way his money was seized is no longer legal, Johnson must continue his legal battle if he hopes to get it back.
Oral arguments for Johnson’s appeal are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in the Arizona Court of Appeals. Avelar previously told The Republic that Institute for Justice would take Johnson’s case to the Arizona Supreme Court if the Arizona Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court’s decision.
“What happened here was contrary to Arizona’s statutes and contrary to the Constitution,” Avelar said.