State of Indiana v. Tyson Timbs

Slaughter, Justice.

The State sought to forfeit Defendant’s Land Rover after he used it to transport illegal drugs. The trial court held the proposed forfeiture would violate the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines' Clause. We conclude the Excessive Fines Clause does not bar the State from forfeiting Defendant’s vehicle because the United States Supreme Court has not held that the Clause applies to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Factual and Procedural History

Defendant, Tyson Timbs, used life-insurance proceeds after his father’s death to pay $42,058.30 for a Land Rover in. January…