Three construction workers are dead and 20 people were injured after the top floors of an 18-story, half-built Hard Rock Hotel collapsed into ruins on October 12, sending tons of debris into the street.
The building was under construction at the edge of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Most of the approximately 100 construction workers at the construction site were uninjured, but three workers were declared dead and 20 others were rushed to area hospitals.
A federal class-action lawsuit recently filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama is challenging the constitutionality of the state’s civil asset forfeiture system.
Civil asset forfeiture is a legal practice that allows law enforcement to take possession of private property—cash, vehicles, real estate, etc.—if it is suspected of being connected to criminal activity. In many states, an individual doesn’t even need to be charged with a crime before their property is taken.
Authorities have identified Ulises Corrales Ibarra as the construction worker killed at an I-4 construction site in Orlando, FL, on September 28. One other worker was reportedly injured.
According to SGL Constructors, the fatal accident occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. by Lake Lucerne in downtown Orlando. A concrete beam reportedly slipped off a piece of equipment and struck Corrales Ibarra and another SGL construction worker.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that three Fresno police officers accused of stealing more than $225,000 while executing a search warrant are entitled to “qualified immunity” and therefore can’t be sued.
The judges panel acknowledged that the officers should have recognized the alleged theft was morally wrong, but it concluded that they didn’t violate the Fourth Amendment.
Police in Willmington, IL, are reportedly seeking to seize the vehicle of a 27-year-old man who was arrested in August for armed robbery.
According to documents filed by the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, police are seeking to forfeit a 1997 GMC 2500 truck owned by Correy A. Ingram of Diamond.
Criminal Defense and Civil Forfeiture Blog