That should now be former officer.
Posted on 07/23/2014 9:10:13 AM PDT by Ken H
Estelline, Texas settles with innocent, elderly motorist who had her cash seized during a traffic stop.
Police in Estelline, Texas are sorry they ever pulled over Laura Dutton. The 64- year-old woman was stopped on November 28, 2012 as she was returning from a trip to Amarillo on US Highway 287. Police Officer Jayson Fry, the city's lone officer, was manning a speed trap a few feet away from the sign marking the speed limit drop when she passed through Estelline.
Officer Fry says she was doing 61 MPH in a 50 MPH zone. He pulled her over, issued a ticket and asked if he could search her truck. She refused.
Officer Fry said he "smelled marijuana" so a drug dog was called in, and when the K-9 arrived thirty minutes later, it alerted. Dutton had no drugs, but she was carrying $31,000 in cash, the bills wrapped up as they had come fresh from the bank. She had recently earned the sum from the sale of 12.9 acres of land in Van Zandt County.
Despite the explanation, Officer Fry grabbed the cash and arrested Dutton, who had no criminal record of any kind, for "money laundering." Officer Fry handed the money over to Estelline City Manager Richard Ferguson.
Two months after the money had been taken from her, the charges were finally dropped and $29,640 returned to Dutton. In addition to the $1400 stolen from her by the city, Dutton was out $1050 in fees she had to pay to get out of jail the day after her arrest. She was never reimbursed for the travel expenses she incurred to get her money back.
Dutton decided to fight with a federal lawsuit challenging the city of Estelline for setting up a government almost entirely funded by speed traps. In 2012, speeding tickets generated 90 percent of the municipal budget. She argued that the marching orders for its officer was "go out there and get me some money" through the use of seizures.
When Dutton complained about the stolen money, the city did not investigate and all video tapes related to the arrest and the deposit of the money were "not saved." US District Judge Mary Lou Robinson reviewed the evidence and last month denied Officer Fry's assertion of immunity. She prepared the case to go to trial.
"There is sufficient evidence in this record for a jury to return a verdict in plaintiff's favor on her unconstitutionally prolonged detention/wrongful arrest/wrongful seizure claim," Judge Robinson wrote. "No reasonable officer would have arrested a suspect solely because his drug dog, certified or not, hit upon drug odors or drug residue on circulated cash."
Realizing there was no chance of surviving before a jury, Officer Fry's lawyers decided to settle the case last week for $77,500.
Back in 84 I got a ticket in Arkansas for “walking on the right of way of a public thoroughfare.” There is no such ordinance. The ticket had none of the little boxes checked and was written on the lines provided for “other” charges. I was then deposited in a holding cell in a neighborhood substaton in Little Rock for three days. Then when I was brought to the front I was told I could go, there weren’t any charges.
Does anyone now doubt that traffic fines have absolutely nothing to do with ‘safety’ and everything to do with filling the city’s/town’s coffers?
Anyone who lives in or near Houston knows about “The Meadows” speed-trap.
How much weed did the drug dog find?
You make a very good point
"Dutton had no drugs..."
I’ve been wondering the same lately and initially attributed the high-volume of stories of police problems in Texas to the size of the state vs others. That may be part of it but I think the other factor is that a lot of Texas prisons are run by private for profit corporations, which may sound good in theory but is anything but. There was one Texas town about 10 years ago where the police were in cahoots with the private prison to keep the prison full so they could get as much state/fed funding (profit) as possible. They were locking up innocent citizens (mainly ‘poor’ people w/o the wherewithal to pay for a good atty), accusing them of (planted) drug possession.
I think that is the same with most states, except where you have thousands of miles of suburbs, Boston to Washington. Once out, country people are generally conservative. Iowa is weird.
I wished all the “folks” we have coming here from California, the NE, and Mexico thought the same, we would be a better place if they stayed out.
A private prison getting fed funding. OK.
The whole cash forfeiture scheme without conviction is unconstitutional. I’m surprised courts have gone along with it.
Respectfully, this was a case of poor journalism, unfortunately, the taxpayers will pay the tab.
A better accounting from amarillo.com:
By Jim McBride
The city of Estelline is reviewing its police procedures after Hall County authorities reached a $77,500 legal settlement with an Azle woman who alleged officers illegally seized more than $29,000 from her pickup and kept $1,400 of her cash.
Good, we do not need anymore morons around here, especially yankees or wets.
Taxpayers taking it in the shorts again for incompetent government employees again.
...all video tapes related to the arrest and the deposit of the money were “not saved.”
They were saved to hard drive but it somehow crashed then destroyed and cant be located.
One thing that pizzes me off about this story is that a 64 YO is called “elderly”. WTH.
And before anyone jumps on you for saying this perhaps it's a fine time to remind everyone that if you know about a felony and you lie about it when asked then you're now complicit as an accessory after the fact. Meaning that when the Blue Wall of Silence comes into play then everyone of the cops playing that game is guilty of a crime.
And that's a crime they'd prosecute everyone else for if they could.
Sounds like a speed trap town here in Florida called Waldo, Town limits 35mph, then jumps to 55, then back to 35. I drive through 34 all the way and haven’t spent a dime in that town.
Of course they do. Someone has to pay for all of that teak and mahogany paneling.
and that should be illegal
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