AL: When DEA adopts a seizure for forfeiture, state courts lose jurisdiction to return property

When there’s a seizure for forfeiture and the DEA adopts it, the state court loses jurisdiction to return it. Hare v. Mack, 2022 Ala. LEXIS 8 (Jan. 21, 2022).

Police responded to a shots fired call at an apartment where the shots came from the back of a three-story building. Defendant was seen on a balcony staring off. Officers came to his apartment, and consent to enter was denied by another occupant, but they entered anyway. Inside were .223 casings and ammunition. They secured the premises for a search warrant. One officer stayed behind, seeing the butt of a partially hidden rifle when alone. The entry was justified by the community caretaking function, and the discovery was inevitable, not even mentioned in the warrant application. Green v. State, 2022 Md. App. LEXIS 31 (Jan. 21, 2022).*

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