Pubdate: Wed, 12 Oct 2005
Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)
Copyright: 2005 Las Vegas Sun, Inc
Contact:  http://www.lasvegassun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/234
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

A LESSON IN HOUSEKEEPING

Boulder City Woman Convicted Of Pot Possession Will Keep Home, For A Price

Boulder City's attorney has decided he doesn't want to seize Cynthia 
Warren's house after all. In fact, he says he never did.

Although state law allows authorities to confiscate any homes and 
vehicles used in drug dealing, Boulder City Attorney Dave Olsen told 
the Las Vegas Sun this week he is optimistic he will reach a cash 
settlement in the civil forfeiture suit he filed against Warren. In 
July she was convicted of marijuana possession, a misdemeanor.

Warren was arrested April 13 after police say they found six pot 
plants, 2.9 ounces of the marijuana, plastic sandwich bags, sales 
records and cultivation instructions inside her Boulder City home. In 
exchange for a no-contest plea, Warren received a suspended 30-day 
jail sentence and a $500 fine and is required to undergo drug 
counseling. And in exchange for whatever amount Olsen accepts, Warren 
also gets to keep her house, which is valued at $400,000 and nearly paid off.

In an effort to keep drug sales in check, Olsen said he regularly 
files for confiscation of personal property, such as houses and 
vehicles, in drug-related cases. One resident previously paid the 
city $3,000 rather than lose his vehicle, which authorities said was 
used to transport drugs.

Olsen filed the suit against Warren about a week after her arrest, 
and before she had been sentenced. But, as Olsen told the Sun this 
week, a settlement was his "objective from the outset" and is part of 
a process for dealing with such cases he has used for 16 years. Olsen 
has never taken anyone's property in such cases.

"We have always settled," he said. "Contrary to what some people 
might believe, I am not interested in taking this poor woman's house."

Well, "some people" believe what their city attorney says in the 
court documents he files. Forgive them. They should know better -- 
especially in a city where threatening to take away people's personal 
property for crimes for which they already have been punished is the 
way business is done. In talking with the Sun last month, Olsen said 
his office has a mandate to crack down on drug cases because two 
teenagers have died of overdoses in the past two years.

"The best way to send a message to folks that drug distribution to 
young people won't be tolerated is to take away their house," he told 
the Sun. "We are sending a message loud and clear that if you package 
and distribute drugs from your house, you lose your home." Unless you 
can provide, as Olsen calls Warren's settlement, "a token payment of 
some kind." That message also is clear and sounds more like extortion 
than crime prevention.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman