State v. Evans

Pope, Presiding Judge.

The State filed an in rem forfeiture complaint pursuant to OCGA § 16-13-49 against 5.1 acres of land, including a house, owned by Sara Augusta Evans and James Danny Gaddis. The complaint was filed after police discovered twenty-four marijuana plants growing in a small corner of a garden on the land and ten plants growing in a closet inside the house. In their answer, Evans and Gaddis claimed that the forfeiture of their property would constitute an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The trial court rejected Evans and Gaddis’…