State v. Catlett

— We are asked yet again to enter the "maelstrom of judicial activity,” to determine if the civil forfeiture of a person’s automobile used to facilitate a drug transaction bars a subsequent criminal prosecution for the drug transaction on state and federal constitutional double jeopardy grounds. After United States v. Ursery, 518 U.S. 267, 116 S. Ct. 2135, 135 L. Ed. 2d 549 (1996), the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution does not bar such prosecution. We hold article I, section 9 of the Washington Constitution does not bar such prosecution as well. We reverse the decision of the…