Victim support
Victim Support Materials:
- Victim Self-Help Materials - This page has several links that may help you if you are subject to a property seizure or have other problems with "the authorities."
- "What To Do When Your Property Has Been Seized By Police" This two page FEAR pamphlet is easy to understand and up to date. Please print out a hard copy of the PDF version and give it to other people who need this information.)
- New Ebook: What to Do When Police Seize Your Property (only $5.99) by Brenda Grantland and Judy Osburn, explains in detail the federal forfeiture process – civil and criminal. It tells how to qualify for a court-appointed attorney, and what to do if you are forced to represent yourself. The book is outlined in a simple question and answer format, with citations to statutes and cases, including links to FEAR's law library and other free internet resources for legal research. It includes a link to a step-by-step video which explains how to prepare a Claim and Answer.
The police took my property. What do I have to do to get it back?
What is asset forfeiture?
If I am found not guilty in my criminal case or they drop the charges, won't I get my property back automatically?
What do I do if they say they intend to pursue forfeiture?
Will I need a state or a federal lawyer?
What do I do if I can't afford to hire a lawyer?
What if I don't qualify for court-appointed counsel and can't find an attorney I can afford?
How long does it take and what can I do to speed up the process?
What do I do once I receive notice of forfeiture from the DEA or another federal agency?
What do I do once I am served with a federal civil forfeiture complaint?
What is criminal forfeiture and how does it differ from civil forfeiture?
What are the defenses to forfeiture?
Can I get my property back pending trial?
Should I keep up my mortgage payments and insurance?
How can these procedures be constitutional?
About the authors
Appendix -- Selected federal forfeiture statutes
- Federal forfeiture statutes
- FEAR's Asset Forfeiture Defense Manual ($119 plus shipping & handling) is written for pro se forfeiture victims as well as defense lawyers. It's available for purchase on this website.
- FEAR's Brief Bank contains over 200 sample motions, forms, briefs, discovery requests, etc. which you can use as samples to write your own pleadings, if necessary. A subscription costs $100 per year.
- Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States [Hardcover], by Stefan D. Cassella, 2006, $397 at Amazon.com. Though oriented for prosecutors rather than defense attorneys, this comprehensive volume is written by one of the federal government's leading forfeiture prosecutors. Also available from Amazon.com is Mr. Cassella's Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States Cumulative Supplement [Paperback], 2010 for $75, a cumulative supplement to the JurisNet title, Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States. Juris Publishing offers a much better price for the updated Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States (Includes Cumulative Supplement) in hardcover with CD and pdf formats for $165.
How can I find a lawyer experienced in forfeiture law? The FEAR Attorney Directory is one way to comparison shop for forfeiture lawyers. Unfortunately, we don't have very many attorneys listed here yet, but we're working on it. Please tell your forfeiture lawyer to apply for our attorney directory.
Where can I turn if I can't afford to hire an attorney? In federal cases, CAFRA authorizes the appointment of counsel for indigent civil forfeiture victims under certain circumstances. See our Application for Appointment of Counsel page for details on how to ask for court appointed counsel. For those of you who really need legal help but don't quite have the necessary funds, see our page Resources for Legal Help to the Indigent.
The "Civil Forfeiture Research Pathfinder" contains some good stuff on how to research forfeiture statutes, legislation, cases, articles, etc. as well as some specific reference material that the author found doing this research.