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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Ind. Courts - Two new stories today on the Delaware County drug forfeiture investigation

The most recent ILB entry on the drug forfeiture investigation in Delaware County was July 24. Today Rick Yencer of the Muncie Star-Press has two new stories.

"Oversight over DTF seizure, forfeiture already in place" is the headline to this story, that begins:

Some new rules governing the seizure and forfeiture of money and property from criminal defendants already are in effect as local judges prepare to adopt new checks and balances.

Seized money and assets from alleged drug dealers are no longer held in the Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force safe on Kilgore Avenue, according to Muncie Police Capt. Mark Vollmar, who supervises the city police investigations unit.

And Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney told Delaware Circuit Court 2 Judge Richard Dailey Tuesday that deputy prosecutors were no longer handling drug forfeiture cases.

McKinney told The Star Press that Dailey's investigation had effectively killed asset forfeiture from criminal defendants. He told the judge it had been difficult to find any attorney to take over the civil cases given the court's investigation that found evidence that property and money was seized and spent by the DTF without court orders. Then-deputy prosecutor McKinney made well over $100,000 during the last decade representing the DTF in those cases.

Dailey again met with local legal, financial and law enforcement officials to finalize new rules before local judges consider them next month.

Among the biggest oversight in the new rules is one that Delaware Circuit Court 4 Judge John Feick imposed after finding the DTF was putting seized money into its own checking account without a court order.

All drug forfeitures must be adjudicated according to state law, and adjudication of the civil forfeiture should not commence until the criminal case is disposed.

A second story, headlined "McKinney can't withdraw from DTF forfeiture cases," begins:
Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney's effort to withdraw from dozens of cases where he represented the Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force on civil forfeiture was denied Tuesday.
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McKinney, represented by Indianapolis attorney Kevin McGoff, said it was no longer appropriate for him to represent the DTF in cases Delaware Circuit Court 2 Judge Richard Dailey planned to review in an ongoing investigation into whether the DTF took money in violation of state law.

McKinney wrote in his motion that his relationship with the DTF was nonexistent, given the city filed a disciplinary complaint against him and also sought a special prosecutor to investigate whether a crime or conflict of interest exists.

Besides that, he said, full-time prosecutors cannot maintain a private law practice.

There's been no action by the Indiana Supreme Court's disciplinary commission on the complaint or by Special Judge Michael Peyton of Henry County on the special prosecutor request.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 30, 2008 09:56 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts