United States v. David H. Ritcherson

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: June 3, 1996
• Docket: 95-3586
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

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No. 95-3586 ___________

United States of America, * * Appellee, * * Appeal from the United States v. * District Court for the * Southern District of Iowa. David Henry Ritcherson, * * [UNPUBLISHED] Appellant. *

Submitted: May 31, 1996

Filed: June 3, 1996 ___________

Before McMILLIAN, WOLLMAN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. ___________

PER CURIAM.

A jury found David Henry Ritcherson guilty of a drug offense, and we affirmed his conviction and sentence. United States v. Watts, 950 F.2d 508 (8th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 911, 943, 945 (1992). Ritcherson then filed this 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion alleging prior "forfeitures" of United States currency constituted former jeopardy barring his drug conviction. The district court1 denied Ritcherson's motion, and Ritcherson appeals.

After de novo review of the record, we conclude Ritcherson's claim is meritless. First, there is no evidence showing that any forfeiture proceeding occurred, or that Ritcherson contested the alleged forfeiture proceedings. Second, even assuming the currency

1 The Honorable Charles R. Wolle, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. was forfeited, Ritcherson's claim is foreclosed by United States v. $21,282.00 in U.S. Currency, 47 F.3d 972, 973 (8th Cir. 1995) ("[t]he forfeiture of proceeds of criminal activity which `simply parts the owner from the fruits of the criminal activity' does not constitute punishment" (quoted case omitted)), and by United States v. Clementi, 70 F.3d 997, 999- 1000 (8th Cir. 1995) (rejecting analysis in United States v. $405,089.23 U.S. Currency, 33 F.3d 1210 (9th Cir. 1994), amended on denial of reh'g, 56 F.3d 41 (9th Cir. 1995), cert. granted, 116 S. Ct. 762 (1996), and extending reasoning in $21,282.00 in U.S. Currency to double jeopardy analysis).

Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.

A true copy.

Attest:

CLERK, U. S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.

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