State v. Rosenfeld

540 N.W.2d 915, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 1590, 1995 WL 756711
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedDecember 26, 1995
DocketC3-95-1339
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 540 N.W.2d 915 (State v. Rosenfeld) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Rosenfeld, 540 N.W.2d 915, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 1590, 1995 WL 756711 (Mich. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

OPINION

KLAPHAKE, Judge.

Appellant State of Minnesota brought criminal drug charges against respondent Harlan Jay Rosenfeld. The district court dismissed the charges, ruling that a prior forfeiture of certain property under the civil drug forfeiture statute, Minn.Stat. § 609.5311 (1992), constituted punishment of Rosenfeld and that the .criminal prosecution therefore violated the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. The state appeals the dismissal, and we reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing.

FACTS

The following statement of facts is derived from the district court order dismissing Ro-senfeld’s criminal charges.

On November 19, 1993, a police officer stopped Rosenfeld for traffic violations and arrested him after observing crack cocaine in his car. Later that day, Rosenfeld was served with a Notice of Seizure and Intent to Forfeit Property, including a 1989 Mercedes 300 CE, two rings, a Rolex watch, a gold bracelet, and $800 cash in $100 bills. Four days later, police executed a search warrant at Rosenfeld’s residence and found cocaine powder and drug paraphernalia. Police arrested Rosenfeld again and later served him with a forfeiture notice for $16,500 cash in $100 bills and 106 gold coins discovered in his residence during the search. Rosenfeld claimed that the total value of the forfeited property was $101,430, while the state set the fair market value at $95,755.1

On November 24, 1993, the state filed two criminal complaints against Rosenfeld. He was charged with fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance in violation of Minn. Stat. § 152.025, subd. 2(1) (1992), for the 1.01 grams of crack cocaine found in the car. In the second complaint, Rosenfeld was charged with first-degree sale of a controlled substance in violation of Minn.Stat. § 152.021, subd. 1(1) (1992), and second-degree posses[918]*918sion in violation of Minn.Stat. § 152.022, subd. 2(1) (1992), for the 15.8 grams of cocaine powder found at his residence.

On January 11, 1994, Rosenfeld filed timely Petitions for Judicial Determination of Forfeiture and Return of Property concerning the forfeitures. Rosenfeld rejected a compromise offer, and the court granted summary judgment to the state in both forfeiture actions on September 15, 1994. Ro-senfeld’s attorney appeared at the summary judgment hearing by telephone, but he did not contest the summary judgments.

On January 10, 1995, the day Rosenfeld’s criminal trial was scheduled to begin, Rosen-feld notified the state that he intended to rely on the defense of double jeopardy. On May 3, 1995, the district court dismissed the criminal charges against Rosenfeld on double jeopardy grounds, and the state filed this appeal.

ISSUES

I. Did the prior civil forfeitures bar Ro-senfeld’s criminal prosecution because of double jeopardy?

II. Was Rosenfeld’s assertion of the double jeopardy defense untimely?

ANALYSIS

I. Double Jeopardy

Rosenfeld claims his criminal prosecution violated state and federal constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: “No person shall * * * be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb * * *.” U.S. Const. amend. V. See Minn. Const, art. I, § 7 (“[N]o person shall be put twice in jeopardy of punishment for the same offense * * *.”); Minn.Stat. § 609.035, subd. 1 (1994) (“[I]f a person’s conduct constitutes more than one offense under the laws of this state, the person may be punished for only one of the offenses * ⅜ *.”).2 The Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits multiple punishment and successive prosecution. North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 717, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 2076, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969). To determine whether the criminal prosecution raised the specter of multiple punishment in this case, we must decide whether the forfeiture of property claimed by Rosenfeld under the state’s civil drug forfeiture statutes constituted punishment for purposes of double jeopardy.

Rosenfeld’s property was forfeited under the following provisions:

Subdivision 1. Controlled substances. All controlled substances that were manufactured, distributed, dispensed, or acquired in violation of chapter 152 are subject to forfeiture under this section * * *.
Subd. 2. Associated property. All property, real and personal, that has been used, or is intended for use, or has in any way facilitated, in whole or in part, the manufacturing, compounding, processing, delivering, importing, cultivating, exporting, transporting, or exchanging of contraband or a controlled substance that has not been lawfully manufactured, distributed, dispensed, and acquired is subject to forfeiture under this section * * ⅜.
⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜
Subd. 4. Records; proceeds, (a) All books, records, and research products and materials, including formulas, microfilm, tapes, and'data that are used, or intended for use in the manner described in subdivision 2 are subject to forfeiture.
(b) All property, real and personal, that represents proceeds derived from or traceable to a use described in subdivision 2 is subject to forfeiture.

[919]*919Minn.Stat. § 609.5811 (1992).3

A. Consent to Summary Judgment

The state first argues that jeopardy should not attach in this case because Rosenfeld consented to the entry of summary judgments in the civil forfeiture proceedings. The state contends that under these circumstances, criminal prosecution of Rosenfeld cannot constitute double jeopardy. See Serfass v. United States, 420 U.S. 377, 387-89, 95 S.Ct. 1055, 1062-63, 43 L.Ed.2d 265 (1975) (discussing requirement that' former jeopardy must attach to implicate double jeopardy). For this argument, the state relies on United States v. Torres, 28 F.3d 1463 (7th Cir.1994), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 669, 130 L.Ed.2d 603 (1994). In Torres, the Seventh Circuit held that a defendant was not placed “in jeopardy” in the forfeiture proceeding because he failed to make a claim or become a party to the proceeding, Id. at 1465. The court speculated that the defendant’s failure to make a claim in the forfeiture action could indicate he had no ownership interest in the property subject to forfeiture. Id. at 1465-66. Thus, double jeopardy did not bar prosecution of the defendant’s drug charge. Id. at 1466; see also United States v. Baird, 63 F.3d 1213, 1217-19 (3d Cir.1995) (jeopardy does not attach to administrative forfeiture because without ownership claim, no person was punished by forfeiture), pet. for cert. filed, 64 U.S.L.W. 3318 (Oct. 17, 1995); United States v. Arreola-Ramos, 60 F.3d 188

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Bluebook (online)
540 N.W.2d 915, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 1590, 1995 WL 756711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rosenfeld-minnctapp-1995.