The exigent circumstances exception to the Fourth Amendment’s requirement for warrants does not support seizing a defendant’s property indefinitely while awaiting forfeiture proceedings, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, saying it was “troubled” that the government held William Cosme’s property for two years, remanded the case for a lower court to determine whether there was probable cause to seize his assets in the first place in United States v. Cosme, 14-1625-cr.
