-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Police State coming to your neighborhood soon! State Appeals Court upholds vehicle forfeiture by parked drunken driver Paul Gustafson / Star Tribune The Minnesota Appeals Court has upheld the forfeiture of a $40,000 sport-utility vehicle whose owner was arrested on a drunken-driving charge as he listened to music in the vehicle in his driveway. . According to Appeals Court Judges Gary Crippen and Daniel Foley, the New Brighton officials didn't violate constitutional prohibitions against double punishment or excessive fines when they seized Bruce R. Barnes' 2000 Ford Excursion after his arrest on Oct. 19, 1999, the day he bought it. But dissenting Judge R.A. (Jim) Randall said that forfeiting the $40,000 truck is "grossly disproportionate" under the circumstances. "Barnes was not convicted of drunken driving. Barnes was convicted of 'drunken listening to music in his own car, in his own driveway, in his own yard,'" Randall wrote. "If he had not had the [misfortune] to be playing the Rolling Stones rather than Mantovani or Neil Diamond, he would still have his $40,000 vehicle." New Brighton city prosecutor Thomas Hughes defended the forfeiture, saying that Barnes was charged with a drunken-driving offense because he was in the driver's seat of his truck with the engine running and therefore had physical control of the vehicle. State law makes it a crime to be in control of a vehicle while drunk, he said. Hughes also said that the state vehicle-forfeiture law is triggered when a vehicle owner has three drunken-driving convictions within five years. "He [Barnes] didn't lose it [the truck] for just that one incident," the prosecutor said. Neither Barnes nor his attorney, Sam McCloud, could be reached to comment. Barnes, 50, bought the truck, drove from the car dealership to a bar and drank alcohol, then drove to his New Brighton home and parked the truck in his driveway. Later that evening, he went back out to the truck to test its audio system. A neighbor called New Brighton police to complain about loud music. Police found Barnes sitting in the driver's seat, and arrested him. He was tested and found to have a 0.14 percent blood-alcohol level, exceeding the state limit of 0.10 percent. It was his third charge related to drunken driving. After Barnes pleaded guilty to a gross-misdemeanor drunken-driving charge, New Brighton officials filed a forfeiture action to take the truck. The Appeals Court majority upheld the constitutionality of the forfeiture, saying that it was not excessive. "We conclude that the perceived harshness of the forfeiture of Barnes' vehicle does not exceed the gravity of Barnes' third DWI offense within five years," Foley wrote. Stephen Simon, an instructor at the University of Minnesota Law School and chairman of a state task force on drunken driving, said there is logic in the law prohibiting intoxicated people from being in physical control of a vehicle. "If the person is drunk, we don't want you to get in the car, because if you get in, you may drive off. If you're impaired, don't get in the car, because you do so at your own peril," he said. In one case, however, a Minnesota court threw out a drunken-driving conviction because the intoxicated defendant had taken refuge for the night in his vehicle after an argument with his wife, Simon said. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
