United States v. Certain Real Property 566 Hendrickson Boulevard, Clawson, Oakland County, Michigan, Leonard Willis, Claimant-Appellant

986 F.2d 990, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 3102, 1993 WL 47733
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 26, 1993
Docket92-1220
StatusPublished
Cited by68 cases

This text of 986 F.2d 990 (United States v. Certain Real Property 566 Hendrickson Boulevard, Clawson, Oakland County, Michigan, Leonard Willis, Claimant-Appellant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Certain Real Property 566 Hendrickson Boulevard, Clawson, Oakland County, Michigan, Leonard Willis, Claimant-Appellant, 986 F.2d 990, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 3102, 1993 WL 47733 (6th Cir. 1993).

Opinion

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge.

Claimant-defendant Leonard Willis (“claimant”) appeals the order of the Dis *992 trict Court granting the government’s motion for summary judgment and directing forfeiture, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(7), of certain real property being used to facilitate the manufacture and distribution of controlled substances. On appeal, Willis argues that the forfeiture order must be reversed because (1) the District Court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the forfeiture proceeding; (2) the grant of summary judgment to the government violated his rights to due process and equal protection as well as his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination; and (3) the District Court erred in ruling that Eighth Amendment principles of proportionality have no place in civil forfeiture proceedings. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I.

The record before the District Court disclosed the following as the probable cause for the seizure. In early 1991, the claimant began remodeling the attic of his home at 566 Hendrickson in Clawson, Michigan, in order to cultivate marijuana plants there. By March 2, the renovations had been completed and defendant obtained a number of marijuana starter plants from an associate. Three days later, on March 5, 1991, the claimant and his wife, Penny Willis, had an argument regarding the marijuana plants in the attic. After the argument, the claimant removed approximately forty (40) marijuana plants from the attic, placed them in the trunk of his car, and drove away.

Immediately thereafter, Penny Willis contacted the Clawson Police Department. Mrs. Willis was taken from the home and placed into protective custody. 1 She informed the police that her husband had converted the attic area in the couple’s home into a “grow room” for marijuana cultivation. Based upon Mrs. Willis’ statements to the police regarding her husband’s activities, a state search warrant was issued on March 5, 1991, by a Magistrate in the 52-4 District Court, Oakland County, State of Michigan. That same day, officers of the Clawson Police Department executed this search warrant at the claimant’s Hendrickson Blvd. home.

Upon entering the attic, the officers observed a marijuana greenhouse. They proceeded to seize from the premises twenty-seven (27) black plastic plant pots, two of which contained marijuana plants; plant food; seedling starter kits; grow lights; potting soil; black plastic irrigation pipes; a fan; and a twenty-four (24) hour timer. Subsequently, the Clawson Police Department requested assistance in a civil in rem forfeiture from the Detroit Drug Enforcement Administration against the claimant as to the real property located at 566 Hendrickson Blvd.

On March 12, 1991, the government filed a complaint seeking forfeiture of the Hendrickson Blvd. property pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(7) 2 on the grounds that the property had been used or was intended for use to facilitate violations of the country's drug laws. Claimant filed a verified claim to the property, and a title search (performed by a United States Marshal) revealed that title was held by the claimant pursuant to a quit claim deed executed on February 11, 1983.

During discovery, claimant’s deposition was taken. While the claimant confirmed he was the owner of the Hendrickson property, he asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege (due to a pending state criminal proceeding on charges of manufacturing marijuana) in response to all questions regarding the attic of the house, the items found there, or his activities with respect to *993 use, receipt or intended cultivation of marijuana.

On August 1, 1991, the government moved for summary judgment and shortly thereafter, the claimant cross moved for summary judgment. After finding the facts to be undisputed and that those facts established that the claimant had taken substantial steps to transform the attic area of the property into a growing room for marijuana, the District Court granted the government’s motion. The court found that the government had satisfied its burden of establishing probable cause to believe the property was subject to forfeiture and that the claimant had thereafter failed to carry his burden of demonstrating the forfeiture was improper. The court further found that the principle of proportionality has no place in a civil in rem forfeiture proceeding. This timely appeal followed.

II.

As a threshold matter, we must decide whether the District Court properly exercised jurisdiction in rem over the home. We may raise such a jurisdictional question on our own motion. See, e.g., United States v. One 1985 Cadillac Seville, 866 F.2d 1142, 1145 (9th Cir.1989); Allen v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 781 F.2d 92, 94 (6th Cir.1986) (with an issue involving subject matter jurisdiction, this Court must satisfy itself of its own jurisdiction and that of the District Court without regard to whether the issue was preserved). A federal forfeiture action under 21 U.S.C. § 881 is an in rem action. See One 1985 Cadillac Seville, 866 F.2d at 1145. A Michigan statutory forfeiture action against defendant property pursuant to the Michigan Public Health Code likewise is in rem. In re Forfeiture of $15,232, 183 Mich.App. 833, 838, 455 N.W.2d 428 (1990); People v. United States Currency, 158 Mich.App. 126, 404 N.W.2d 634 (1986). The basis of claimant's argument that the District Court lacked jurisdiction is the well-settled principle that a court cannot exercise jurisdiction over a res that is already subject to the in rem jurisdiction of another court. See Penn General Casualty Co. v. Pennsylvania, 294 U.S. 189, 195, 55 S.Ct. 386, 389, 79 L.Ed. 850 (1935); United States v. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Bd. of Educ., 902 F.2d 267, 271 (4th Cir.1990); United States v. $79,123.49 in United States Cash and Currency, 830 F.2d 94, 96 (7th Cir.1987). According to this rule, the first court to exercise in rem jurisdiction over the res exercises jurisdiction to the exclusion of a second court that later attempts to proceed against the same res. United States v. One 1986 Chevrolet Van, 927 F.2d 39, 44 (1st Cir.1991).

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986 F.2d 990, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 3102, 1993 WL 47733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-certain-real-property-566-hendrickson-boulevard-clawson-ca6-1993.