I have spent the last year prosecuting money laundering cases using Chapter 34. One thing you could do in the future is when you find a drug dealer also in possession of large quantities of money, also indict for money laundering: "possess or conceal proceeds of (felony) criminal activity."

Make a criminal deal contingent on a plea of guilty to the Money Laundering charge, and your judgment would provide the summary judgment evidence. Perhaps even a 12.45 on the Money Laundering would be enough for the civil court.

I have spent the last year prosecuting money laundering cases using Chapter 34. One thing you could do in the future is when you find a drug dealer also in possession of large quantities of money, also indict for money laundering: "possess or conceal proceeds of (felony) criminal activity."

Make a criminal deal contingent on a plea of guilty to the Money Laundering charge, and your judgment would provide the summary judgment evidence. Perhaps even a 12.45 on the Money Laundering would be enough for the civil court.

Elizabeth:

The majority of cases that I file motions for summary judgment on are cases where we are seizing a vehicle as a result of drugs being transported in the vehicle. Obviously, once the Defendant (if he is the owner of the vehicle) pleads to the underlying possession of a controlled substance case, a summary judgment is relatively easy to obtain.

Cases involving multiple parties claiming the same seized currency obvioulsy call for a different approach. In pro se cases, I find that a motion for summary judgment can be just as effective--probably in large part due to the fact that very rarely can pro se litigants create a genuine issue of material fact using evidence that is admissible.

That being said--we rarely, if ever, try a civil forfeiture case. With smaller amounts of currency--sub $10,000--I feel that the amount of time to properly prepare for a trial exceeds the value of what we get if we win. In those cases, we'll almost always settle and sign an agreed judgment dividing the money.