State v. $281,420.00 in United States Currency

Law enforcement officers seized a truck while it was being towed and discovered a large amount of cash hidden in the axle. In this forfeiture proceeding that followed, neither the truck’s owner nor the person who arranged the tow came forward to assert an interest in the currency. The tow-truck driver, however, intervened in the suit and claimed the currency as the last person in possession. Upon determining that the State had failed to meet its burden to establish that the currency was contraband, a divided court of appeals awarded the cash to the tow-truck driver. Because we hold that the…