CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A federal appeals court panel is giving a Canadian man another chance to prove that he's the legal owner of nearly $1 million that Nevada state troopers seized from his rental car during a traffic stop near Las Vegas in August 2008.
Three 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges ruled Monday that U.S. District Court Judge Kent Dawson in Las Vegas used the wrong standard in denying Michael Simard's claim to the $999,830.
The Las Vegas Sun reports the panel sent the case back to Dawson for further hearings.
The court record shows Simard had a Canadian driver's license and gave a trooper who stopped him on Interstate 15 permission to search the vehicle.
Federal prosecutors filed documents in January 2009 seeking to keep the cash.
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