Appeals court rules forfeiture didn’t have the supporting evidence
Judges ruled in favor of a local convenience store owner who had cash seized along with Delta 8 THC products during a raid in 2021 that four years later was ruled to have not been backed by solid evidence, and now the money has to be returned.
Attorney Brad McFall of Gammon, McFall and Villarreal in Cedartown headed the case for Jagrutiben Patel against the state following the seizure of cash after an October 2021 arrest by the previous Polk County Drug Task Force and local law enforcement following incidents where THC gummies were showing up in the hands of underage consumers. His client will now get the cash back lost during the raid, and the issue come to a happy conclusion for the defense.
“From the moment these individuals were arrested, the products seized and the cash confiscated by law-enforcement, it was my position that these products were legal and that the task force had wrongfully brought these charges and seized this money,” McFall said. “Three years later, the Court of Appeals has confirmed what I knew all along, and justice has ultimately been served in this case.”
The court handed down the decision last week on Friday, March 14.
The question at the time was whether the “hemp” products – the THC gummies and other items in the store that were Delta 8 THC products, under dispute of whether they were a controlled substance – was decided by the appeals court when they concluded the state hadn’t produced the “preponderance of evidence” it needed to prove that the products were illegal and Patel and clerks knew they were selling them and using the cash to purchase more.
No one disputed that at the time the THC gummies that were seized were “hemp-based products” now protected under state law following a 2024 passage of the Georgia Hemp Farming Act. In fact, the court made it clear that “while there was evidence that the products were infused with THC, not all THC is a controlled substance.” The THC gummies being sold at the time weren’t FDA approved, and not legal under Georgia law.
However, the argument presented on behalf of Patel’s appeal sought to retroactively provide cover under the GHFA was dismissed. What the court did find was the state didn’t meet their burden of proof because they didn’t show the concentration of Delta-9 THC – the one that is a controlled substance and the active cannabinoid in marijuana – within the gummies, and thus couldn’t prove the store was selling the products knowingly and profiting illegally in the process.
A concurring opinion on the case noted that the trial court also erred when they didn’t hold the state up to the burden of proof needed to meet the standard.
The court did recognize in their decision that the law on hemp products in Georgia has been evolving since 2019, and noted that federal policy and the intention of state law don’t always see eye-to-eye on determining what is a controlled substance, and what isn’t one.
McFall noted this brings the case to a close – though the state could appeal further it is likely that it won’t at this time.
The seized money from the the convenience store will be returned to Patel, with interest paid since it was held for several years before the case resolved.
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