re: CA may not require bail

quote:

---

once bail is set for an arrested individual there is indication of a crime having been committed.

---

You'd be horrified as to the reason why some people are arrested.

Often times it has nothing to do with what happened and everything to do with what the police officers want. Cash, cars, jewelry, have all been seized after BS arrests because the officers wanted some random citizen's property.

LINK

quote:

---

Eh Wah had been on the road for 12 hours when he saw the flashing lights in his rear-view mirror.

The 40-year-old Texas man, a refugee from Burma who became a U.S. citizen more than a decade ago, was heading home to Dallas to check on his family. He was on a break from touring the country for months as a volunteer manager for the Klo & Kweh Music Team, a Christian rock ensemble from Burma, also known as Myanmar. The group was touring the United States to raise funds for a Christian college in Burma and an orphanage in Thailand.

---

quote:

---

The sheriff's deputies in Muskogee County, Okla., pulled Eh Wah over for a broken tail light about 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 27. The deputies started asking questions — a lot of them. And at some point, they brought out a drug-sniffing dog, which alerted on the car. That's when they found the cash, according to the deputy's affidavit.

There was the roughly $33,000 from ticket sales and donations, much of it earmarked for the religious college back in Burma, according to Eh Wah and the band members.

---

quote:

---

The officers ended up taking all of the money — all $53,249 of it. "Possession of drug proceeds," the property receipt reads. But they let Eh Wah go. They didn't charge him with a crime that night, instead sending him back on the road about 12:30 a.m., with the broken tail light.


The Klo & Kweh Music Team performs a concert in Nashville in February. (Photo courtesy of Eh Wah)
What happened to Eh Wah is known as civil asset forfeiture. It comes from a relatively obscure corner of the law that allows authorities to seize cash and property from people they suspect of a crime. In most states, and under federal law, authorities get to keep the proceeds regardless of whether the person is ever convicted, or even charged, with criminal wrongdoing.

Under civil forfeiture, the burden of proof is on the property owner to prove their innocence to get their stuff back. This turns the common criminal-law principle on its head: When it comes to civil forfeiture, you are guilty until proven innocent.

---

quote:

---

Muskogee County authorities eventually charged Eh Wah with a crime, five weeks after he was stopped. They issued a warrant for his arrest April 5, for the crime of "acquir[ing] proceeds from drug activity, a felony." For probable cause, the authorities noted the positive alert from the drug dog, "inconsistent stories" and said Eh Wah was "unable to confirm the money was his."

---

If you read through the story, the reason they arrested him was because they wanted leverage over the cash they seized. Stop fighting the cash seizure, and they drop the charges.

It's nothing short of armed robbery.

My point of this long post is to make sure you realize arrests have very little to do with guilt, or lack thereof.