One Ford Mustang, VIN 1FAFP40471F207859 v. State

231 S.W.3d 445, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 5652, 2007 WL 2051968
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 18, 2007
Docket10-06-00128-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 231 S.W.3d 445 (One Ford Mustang, VIN 1FAFP40471F207859 v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
One Ford Mustang, VIN 1FAFP40471F207859 v. State, 231 S.W.3d 445, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 5652, 2007 WL 2051968 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

FELIPE REYNA, Justice.

Shannon Raye brings this appeal from an order forfeiting a Ford Mustang which was used in the commission of a narcotics crime. Raye contends in two issues that the judgment is erroneous because she established as a matter of law that: (1) she is the owner of the Mustang and did not know and should not reasonably have known of the acts giving rise to the forfeiture; and (2) the person arrested in the Mustang breached his contract with Raye for its purchase. We will reverse and render.

Background

Raye purchased the Mustang which is the subject of this proceeding in May 2004. She signed a “contract of sale” with Chris Harris for the Mustang in March 2005.1 According to the terms of the contract, Hands agreed to pay $7,500 for the car. He made a down payment of $1,000 and agreed to make twenty-one monthly payments of $300 and one payment of $200 for the remaining $6,500 owed. For her part, Raye agreed to maintain insurance on the car “for [the] duration of [the] contract.”2

An Arlington police officer arrested Harris in July 2005 for possession of twenty-eight grams of methamphetamine. Harris was driving the Mustang at the time of his arrest. A Navarro County sheriffs deputy arrested Harris in October 2005 for possession with intent to deliver forty-two grams of methamphetamine. Harris was driving the Mustang on this occasion as well, and it was seized for forfeiture.

The State served Raye with notice of the forfeiture proceeding because she is the registered owner of the Mustang. Raye [448]*448filed a general denial, asserted the innocent-owner defense, and asserted a cross-claim against Harris for breach of their contract.

Harris failed to appear at the forfeiture hearing. The State called three witnesses: the Arlington police officer and two Navarro County sheriffs deputies. The police officer described Harris’s Arlington arrest and testified on cross-examination that he had no knowledge that Raye was involved in any way with Harris’s narcotics offense or had any knowledge of the offense.

Deputy Clint Andrews testified to the circumstances of Harris’s Navarro County arrest. Deputy Andrews stated on cross-examination that he did not know Raye, that he was not aware of any involvement on her part in narcotics trafficking, that he had no evidence to suggest that she was involved in Harris’s crime, and that there is nothing to suggest that she had knowledge that Harris was selling narcotics.

Deputy Stan Farmer also participated in Harris’s arrest and the ensuing investigation. Deputy Farmer testified that Raye was the registered owner of the Mustang. He had learned of Raye’s boyfriend Jared Coker through “narcotics information.” To Farmer’s knowledge, Coker had never been arrested for a narcotics crime. He had no information to indicate that Raye had ever been involved in narcotics trafficking or that she would have knowledge of any narcotics trafficking.

Raye testified that Coker negotiated the transaction with Harris for the sale of her car. Coker and she had lived together for about ten years. In describing Coker’s relationship with Harris, she characterized them as “acquaintances” rather than “good friends.” She personally had seen Harris on only a few occasions. She understood the agreement with Harris to mean that she would maintain title to the car until he paid the purchase price in full. She thought Coker may have experimented with marihuana when he was younger but denied that he had “a methamphetamine problem” as far as she was aware. She did not know that Harris was involved in narcotics trafficking until a few days after his Navarro County arrest. Harris still owes her $4,500 under their contract.

Forfeiture Statutes

Chapter 59 of the Code of Criminal Procedure authorizes the forfeiture of “contraband,” which is defined as property used in the commission of various enumerated felonies and misdemeanors including any felony under Chapter 481 of the Health and Safety Code, commonly known as the Texas Controlled Substances Act.3 See Tex. Code Crim. PROC. Ann. arts. 59.01(2)(B)(i), 59.02(a) (Vernon 2006).

Article 59.02(c) provides an innocent-owner defense to forfeiture which requires a person whose property has been seized for forfeiture to establish: (1) she acquired or perfected her ownership interest before or during the act or omission giving rise to forfeiture; and (2) she did not know and should not reasonably have known of that act or omission or that it was likely to occur at or before acquiring the ownership interest.4 Id. art. 59.02(c)(1) (Vernon [449]*4492006); $18,800 v. State, 961 S.W.2d 257, 260 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1997, no writ); Bochas v. State, 951 S.W.2d 64, 71 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1997, writ denied).

Standard of Review

A forfeiture proceeding under Chapter 59 is a civil in rem proceeding governed by the procedural rules applicable to civil trials and appeals generally. See State v. Silver Chevrolet Pickup, 140 S.W.3d 691, 692 (Tex.2004) (per curiam); Hardy v. State, 50 S.W.3d 689, 692 (Tex.App.-Waco 2001), aff'd, 102 S.W.3d 123 (Tex.2003); see also Tex.Code Crim. PROC. Ann. art. 59.05(a), (b) (Vernon 2006). Thus, the appropriate standard of review on appeal depends on which party had the burden of proof at trial. See Dow Chem. Co. v. Francis, 46 S.W.3d 237, 241-42 (Tex.2001); Lifshutz v. Lifshutz, 199 S.W.3d 9, 17-18 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2006, pet. denied); Hardy, 50 S.W.3d at 692; Beard v. Beard, 49 S.W.3d 40, 54-55 (Tex.App.-Waco 2001, pet. denied).

The burden is on the owner to establish the innocent-owner defense by a preponderance of the evidence. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 59.02(c); $18,800, 961 S.W.2d at 260; Bochas, 951 S.W.2d at 71. When the appellant asserts that there is no evidence to support an adverse finding on which she had the burden of proof, the standard of review has been traditionally stated thusly:

we construe the issue as an assertion that the contrary was established as a matter of law. We first search the record for evidence favorable to the finding, disregarding all contrary evidence. If we find no evidence supporting the finding, we then determine whether the contrary was established as a matter of law.

Beard, 49 S.W.3d at 54-55 (citing Sterner v. Marathon Oil Co., 767 S.W.2d 686, 690 (Tex.1989) (other citations omitted)); accord Dow Chem., 46 S.W.3d at 241; Lifshutz, 199 S.W.3d at 17-18; Hardy, 50 S.W.3d at 695; $18,800, 961 S.W.2d at 261.

However, the appropriate enunciation of this standard must be reconsidered in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802 (Tex.2005).

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231 S.W.3d 445, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 5652, 2007 WL 2051968, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/one-ford-mustang-vin-1fafp40471f207859-v-state-texapp-2007.