Salazar v. In re Forfeiture of $182,289.00 in U.S. Currency

Felipe Salazar appeals a nonfinal order finding that he lacks standing to challenge an adversarial preliminary hearing in a civil forfeiture action. For the following reasons, we affirm.

After the police seized the property, Salazar signed a sworn statement relinquishing all rights, title, and interest in the property. However, in an effort to establish standing at the preliminary hearing, Salazar merely stated, “Yes, it was my [property].” This conelu-sory statement did nothing to overcome the legal effect of Salazar’s relinquishment of rights and was insufficient to establish standing. See §…