Longmire v. Howell
Docket: AV93000575
Court: Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama; November 3, 1994; Alabama; State Appellate Court
Thomas E. Longmire filed a complaint against police officer Roland W. Howell for the return of $2,096.10 seized during Longmire's arrest on March 2, 1990. Longmire claimed that forfeiture proceedings had not been initiated as required by law. Howell responded with a motion to dismiss, arguing that the case was precluded by Ala.Code 1975 § 6-5-440, due to an earlier case (Longmire v. Howell, et al., CV-94-03) that was still pending in the Circuit Court of Baldwin County. The trial court granted Howell's motion, leading Longmire to appeal. The appellate review confirmed that both cases arose from the same incident, involved the same parties, and included identical claims regarding the lack of forfeiture proceedings and Howell's obligation to return the seized currency. Section 6-5-440 prohibits prosecuting two simultaneous actions for the same cause against the same party, affirming the trial court's decision to dismiss Longmire's complaint. The appellate court affirmed the lower court's ruling, with all judges concurring.