NEZ PERCE COUNTY PROSECUTING ATT'Y v. Reese

136 P.3d 364, 142 Idaho 893
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 11, 2006
Docket31293
StatusPublished

This text of 136 P.3d 364 (NEZ PERCE COUNTY PROSECUTING ATT'Y v. Reese) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
NEZ PERCE COUNTY PROSECUTING ATT'Y v. Reese, 136 P.3d 364, 142 Idaho 893 (Idaho Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

136 P.3d 364 (2006)
142 Idaho 893

NEZ PERCE COUNTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
John REESE, Jr., Party Aggrieved-Appellant, and
One (1) 1988 Comfort Travel Trailer VIN 1K53KFM27J1009373; One (1) 1988 Winnebago Motor Home VIN 17N430122HW2004012, Defendants.

No. 31293.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

May 11, 2006.

*366 John Reese, Jr., Boise, pro se appellant.

Daniel L. Spickler, Nez Perce County Prosecuting Attorney, for respondent.

PERRY, Chief Judge.

John Reese, Jr. appeals from the district court's order granting civil forfeiture of his *367 motor home and travel trailer. We vacate and remand.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

In the summer of 2003, Reese resided in a motor home that was in need of mechanical repairs, which Reese could not afford. Previously, Reese worked in construction but had been physically unable to work in that field for several years. A friend of Reese's loaned him money to purchase a pickup and a travel trailer. The friend, who knew of Reese's construction experience and that he had false identification documentation, approached Reese with a plan to grow marijuana. Reese leased a barn under an assumed name and built a hidden room inside where the friend planned to grow the marijuana. In exchange, the friend agreed to provide Reese with money to repair the motor home. Reese and his friend placed the motor home and the trailer in the barn, with Reese living in the motor home and the friend in the trailer. The friend provided money to buy equipment including grow lights, remote temperature monitors, air filters, exhaust fans, and pumps, some of which were purchased utilizing Reese's assumed name.

In November 2003, fire officials responded to a fire that had started in a haystack next to the barn. In the course of extinguishing the blaze and investigating its extent and cause, fire officials discovered that the haystack concealed a gas generator. The officials also noticed that a pipe ran between the generator and a drum of gasoline inside the adjacent barn, which also contained hay. After the outside haystack fire was extinguished, fire officials searched inside the barn to ensure the fire had not spread. During this search, the fire officials discovered the hidden room and notified police. Responding police observed a dual-state water filter system with hoses leading to the hidden room and to the motor home and a heavy-duty extension cord running from the generator to the hidden room.

Police obtained a search warrant and discovered a marijuana-growing operation with over one hundred plants in the hidden room. A search of the motor home revealed a checkbook, a check register, and a rental agreement for the barn in Reese's assumed name; a receipt for grow lights; a baggie of a substance believed to be marijuana; a pipe with residue; scales; a receiver for a remote temperature monitor; a receipt for building supplies consistent with the construction of the hidden room; a book containing research on death records and aliases; six license plates from various states; and items of identification for Reese and another person. Inside the travel trailer, police discovered a substance believed to be marijuana, a pipe, receipts for items similar to those found in the hidden room, manuals regarding identification documents and passports, and documents with various names. Police found $870 on Reese and $1238 on the friend. Reese and his friend were arrested and charged with trafficking in marijuana. I.C. § 37-2732B(a)(1)(C). The cases were tried together in front of a jury and both Reese and his friend were found guilty. In an unpublished opinion, this Court affirmed Reese's judgment of conviction and sentence. See State v. Reese, Docket No. 31070 (Ct. App. Jan. 23, 2006).

In December 2003, Nez Perce County filed complaints in rem for forfeiture of the pickup, trailer, motor home, the cash, and miscellaneous equipment found in the barn and vehicles. See I.C. § 37-2744. Reese answered and claimed an interest in the pickup, trailer, motor home, and $870.[1] Reese alleged that the pickup, trailer, and motor home were not used to deliver or store controlled substances and that the trailer and motor home were intended only as living quarters. Reese asserted that the $870 was acquired legally through the sale of a vehicle and that he intended to use the money to purchase groceries.

Following a court trial, Reese moved that the case be dismissed as to the motor home, the pickup, and the $870 because forfeiture of *368 that property constituted an unconstitutionally excessive fine and placed him in double jeopardy. The district court held that the forfeiture did not place Reese in double jeopardy. The district court also found that the county had demonstrated a substantial connection between the marijuana-growing operation and the motor home and trailer and that Reese had failed to show that forfeiture of those vehicles was unconstitutionally excessive. However, the district court found that the county failed to demonstrate a nexus between the marijuana and the $870 or the pickup. The district court therefore ordered that the county be granted forfeiture to all items listed in the complaints with the exception of the pickup and the $870. Reese appeals, challenging only the forfeiture of the trailer and the motor home.

II.

ANALYSIS

A. Property Subject to Forfeiture

Initially, we address Reese's contention that, because the motor home and trailer were not used to store or transport marijuana, they were not subject to forfeiture. Conveyances, including vehicles, are subject to forfeiture where they were used, or intended for use, to facilitate the possession or concealment of controlled substances or raw materials, products, and equipment of any kind which were used or intended for use in manufacturing, compounding, or processing controlled substances. See I.C. § 37-2744(a)(4). Thus, to be subject to forfeiture, the trailer and motor home did not have to be directly used to transport or conceal marijuana but, rather, needed only to facilitate the growing operation or its concealment. See id.

The district court found that, by living within the barn, Reese and his friend were able to constantly monitor and maintain conditions in the hidden room without having to make frequent trips to and from the barn, which could have aroused suspicion. The district court therefore concluded that using the trailer and motor home as living quarters within the barn facilitated the concealment of the marijuana-growing operation. These findings are supported by substantial evidence and we will not disturb them on appeal. See State v. Harwood, 133 Idaho 50, 52, 981 P.2d 1160, 1162 (Ct.App.1999). Accordingly, the district court did not err by determining that the trailer and motor home were subject to forfeiture.

Reese also argues that civil forfeiture, which followed his conviction for trafficking in marijuana, placed him in double jeopardy for the same offense. Reese further contends that forfeiture of the trailer and the motor home are disproportionate given the nature of his offense and the extent of his culpability. The alleged violations of constitutional rights present mixed questions of fact and law. See Harwood, 133 Idaho at 52, 981 P.2d at 1162.

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Nez Perce County Prosecuting Attorney v. Reese
136 P.3d 364 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
136 P.3d 364, 142 Idaho 893, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nez-perce-county-prosecuting-atty-v-reese-idahoctapp-2006.