James “Jamey” Vibbert is the unlikely protagonist of an object lesson about the way civil asset forfeiture can be abused by ambitious law enforcement agents and unscrupulous prosecutors.
And Vibbert, a small business owner who faced criminal charges and the attempted civil forfeiture of more than $25,000 that he needed to keep his business running, paid the price.
“‘Try it and lose,’ was pretty much what we were told.” You weren’t allowed to, unless he wanted to dismiss the case,” the former insider said. “ut we didn’t dismiss cases in the DA’s office when Doug Valeska was there. That’s what a former Houston County assistant district attorney with knowledge of the case against James Vibbert says, anyway. It was a “harebrained theory” from the start. By Leah Nelson, Alabama Appleseed Researcher