- "Dear Governor Birkead, I live with my brother and grandmother. The house we live in isn't big or new, but it's the only home we own. If the District Attorney's office takes our house, my brother and I could be forced into foster care. So it's not just our house we would lose, but our family, too. The only reason the District Attorney's office wants to take our house is because my mother joined a class-action lawsuit suing the state for denying her constitutional right to an effective attorney. Well, now she finally has one, and the D.A is punishing her for it. That's wrong, and we need the public's help to fix it. Until then, stay strong, mama."
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Gelvin was an attempt at civil asset forfeiture against Claudia Gelvin and her family. Claudia, who was in prison for child neglect and possession with the intent to distribute, sold drugs out of her mother's house, where she lived with her children. When Annalise's class action lawsuit became public knowledge the D.A's office launched the asset seizure against the Gelvin house in order to scare Claudia into dropping out of the suit.
Case[]
Annalise and Connor met with Claudia with her son Tyrone and she explained what civil asset forfeiture was and that the city had the legal right to take their house away because it was used in the commission of a crime. She continued that the D.A's office was only doing it to scare Claudia into dropping out of the class action lawsuit Annalise was leading. She later met with judge Mitchell Sabarski, who said Annalise should have expected pusback because she was suing the entire state. Annalise said all she needed was an injunction to stop the seizure. Sabarski said he could sign any injuction she wanted but it wasn't going to stop the D.A's office from going after her. Annalise said she could tackle one problem at a time but Sabarski stopped her and asked if she was the right attorney to be leading the class action. He continued that her standing with the bar was precarious and he was unsure that she was the right attorney for a case with so much public scrutiny.
After, Connor was waiting outside and the two left together. Annalise said the judges were too scared to sign the injuction because Denver was running for Attorney General. During their conversation Annalise decided she was 'in the mood to yell' and the two went to the D.A's office. Once there, she told everybody they should be ashamed for helping Denver take a family's home away. Denver argued that Claudia was a drug dealer so Annalise countered that it was only marijuana and she wasn't the one preying on the poor and the weak. She continued until security showed up at which point she left.
That night Annalise and Connor ate ice cream in her hotel room and talked about things. He said he wished he recorded what she said at the D.A's office because it would have gone viral. The next day, after therapy Annalise returned back to her hotel room and Connor presented an idea to her. He said they should have Tyrone write a letter to the newspaper about how the D.A was profiting off civil forfeiture. Annalise said nobody read newspapers anymore and thought back to how Connor wished her 'Denver speech' went viral. Later they held a press conference that Tyrone opened by addressing govenor Birkhead and exposing what the D.A's office was doing. He said he needed the public's help to make it right. When he was finished Annalise took over and said that she was taking an injunction to judge Sabarski because he had never hesitated to stand up for the 'lesser' among them. Annalise knew that if she called him out on live TV he would have no choice but to sign the injunction.
Following the press conference she met with Sabarski, who ended up signing the injunction. She then met with Claudia and told her that everything was fixed.
See also[]
Appearances[]
| Season 4 | |||||||||||
| "I'm Going Away" | "I'm Not Her" | "It's for the Greater Good" | "Was She Ever Good at Her Job?" | ||||||||
| "I Love Her" | "Stay Strong, Mama" | "Nobody Roots for Goliath" | "Live. Live. Live." | ||||||||
| "He's Dead" | "Everything We Did Was For Nothing" | "He's a Bad Father" | "Ask Him About Stella" | ||||||||
| "Lahey v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" | "The Day Before He Died" | "Nobody Else Is Dying" |