Recent Cases
Civil Forfeiture
The Facts:
Accused was stopped while driving across Canada in a rental vehicle. Police illegally searched his vehicle and found $59,100 of vacuumed sealed cash in duffle bags in the back seat. Police alleged money was being used to purchase drugs.
The Result:
Despite the egregious actions of the police in this case, the Civil Forfeiture office continued to refuse to return the client’s money. When negotiations came to a standstill we filed a Bifurcation Application seeking to have a Supreme Court Judge rule on the Charter breaches before the trial. After filing the Bifurcation Application outlining the illegal search of the vehicle the lawyer for the Director of Civil Forfeiture more than tripled their initial settlement offer and agreed to return the majority of the client’s seized money.