United States v. Search of Music City

Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit·Decided May 12, 2000·No. 99-5260·Published

Opinion

RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION 16 United States v. Search of Music City No. 99-5260 Pursuant to Sixth Circuit Rule 206 Marketing ELECTRONIC CITATION: 2000 FED App. 0164P (6th Cir.)

File Name: 00a0164p.06

(6th Cir. 1992), this Court recognized entrapment by estoppel as a defense to criminal prosecution. Because the government UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS has not begun any criminal prosecution of Music City, this defense is not yet appropriate. Under Rule 41(e), the FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT government need not return the seized _________________ contraband—regardless of any prior representations regarding the legality of the items.

; 

IV. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Appellee,



For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s 

denial of Music City’s Fed. R. Crim. P. 41(e) motion for the No. 99-5260 v.



return of its property.

>

SEARCH OF MUSIC CITY  

Appellant. 

MARKETING, INC.,



1

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville. No. 98-03096—Thomas A. Higgins, District Judge.

Argued: March 7, 2000

Decided and Filed: May 12, 2000 Before: MARTIN, Chief Judge; KENNEDY and SUHRHEINRICH, Circuit Judges.

COUNSEL

ARGUED: Alfred H. Knight, WILLIS & KNIGHT, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellant. Harold B. McDonough, Jr., ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Alfred H. Knight, Alan D. Johnson, WILLIS & KNIGHT, Nashville, Tennessee, 2 United States v. Search of Music City No. 99-5260 No. 99-5260 United States v. Search of Music City 15 Marketing Marketing

Hal D. Hardin, LAW OFFICES OF HAL D. HARDIN, with drugs in the community. The court found that Music Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellant. Harold B. McDonough, City had put on no credible evidence refuting the Jr., ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Nashville, government’s contention that the snuff dispensers were used Tennessee, for Appellee. primarily to administer drugs. With respect to the scales, the court noted that while they were multi-use items, they were _________________ housed in a warehouse containing other drug paraphernalia.

Based on this evidence, the court concluded that the items at OPINION issue were primarily intended or designed for use with _________________ controlled substances. Under these circumstances we cannot say that the district court erred in arriving at this conclusion.

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge. In June of 1998 United States C.f. 57, 261 Items of Drug Paraphernalia, 869 F.2d at 958–59 Customs Agents executed a warrant to search the premises of (evaluating the evidence considered by the district court and Music City Marketing (“Music City”) for drug paraphernalia; concluding the court had not erred in concluding that the seizing various merchandise that they believed qualified as items at issue qualified as drug paraphernalia and thus were such in the process. Music City filed a motion in the district properly subject to civil forfeiture under the Customs Statute). court for the return of the seized property pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 41(e). After conducting a hearing, the court found III. the majority of the seized items were drug paraphernalia and thus contraband. As a result, the court denied plaintiff’s Music City also argues that based on the government’s motion with respect to those items. Music City appealed, actions during the seizure of Music City’s inventory in 1989, arguing: (1) that the definition of drug paraphernalia as a matter of due process it could not pronounce the items contained in 21 U.S.C. § 863 was unconstitutionally vague as seized in 1998 to be drug paraphernalia. Music City places applied to the seized items; and (2) that based on prior great weight on the fact that after Customs agents seized representations made by United States Customs Officers, it items from its warehouse in 1989, the government left behind was a violation of due process for the government to seize the items that were essentially identical to items seized in 1998. items at issue. For the following reasons we affirm the district Music City also alleges that some Customs agents made court’s holding that the merchandise was drug paraphernalia statements implying that items remaining in Music City’s that as contraband could not be returned to Music City. inventory after the 1989 seizure could legally be sold, at least in the Middle District of Tennessee. Further, Music City I. points out that a list of prohibited items was attached to its plea agreement and that none of these items were present in In 1989, approximately nine years prior to the seizure at 1998. Finally, Music City notes that for three years after issue, United States Customs Officers searched the warehouse entering into the plea agreement it sent catalogs containing used by Music City and its subsidiary Contempo Tobacco items seized in 1998 to the Customs office. Products, Inc., seizing several truck loads of what was determined to be drug paraphernalia. Music City engaged in Based on these facts, Music City asserts that the criminal settlement negotiations with the United States, initially doctrine of entrapment by estoppel should prevent the proposing that the government acknowledge that all of the government from categorizing the seized items as drug merchandise not seized from the warehouse could be legally paraphernalia. In United States v. Levin, 973 F.2d 463, 468 sold. The government declined, and Music City entered into 14 United States v. Search of Music City No. 99-5260 No. 99-5260 United States v. Search of Music City 3 Marketing Marketing

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