Miller v. Ohio State Hwy. Patrol

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 3231

Syllabus

Petitioner appeals common pleas court's denial of his petition for the return of $280,000 in cash seized by the Ohio State Highway Patrol following a traffic stop and transferred to the Drug Enforcement Administration for civil forfeiture under federal law. Court dismissed petition for lack of jurisdiction. Court did not err in declining to exercise jurisdiction over assets in the custody of the DEA because the OSHP submitted evidence establishing that it initially seized the currency based upon probable cause of association with drug trafficking, that the OSHP and the DEA subsequently decided that the DEA would adopt the currency for federal forfeiture. Transfer was completed before the petitioner filed his complaint in state court. Petitioner argued that OSHP was required to obtain a state court order before transferring the currency to DEA. However, Ohio state and federal law permitted the transfer without judicial intervention. The petitioner argued that OSHP lacked probable cause to seize the currency and referred to hypothetical evidence that petitioner would submit at an evidentiary hearing. Court of appeals is limited to the record on appeal. Petitioner has the ability to challenge the lawfulness of the seizure in federal district court.