Wallace v. Shields

854 P.2d 1152, 175 Ariz. 166, 129 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 32, 1992 Ariz. App. LEXIS 327
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedDecember 24, 1992
DocketNo. 1 CA-CV 90-478
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 854 P.2d 1152 (Wallace v. Shields) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wallace v. Shields, 854 P.2d 1152, 175 Ariz. 166, 129 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 32, 1992 Ariz. App. LEXIS 327 (Ark. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

GRANT, Judge.

This unique case involves a cactus custody dispute as well as the constitutionality of Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) section 3-931(C) of the Arizona Native Plants Act.

H.B. Wallace and Jocelyn Wallace (“the Wallaces”) appeal from a judgment that dissolved a temporary restraining order and dismissed their complaint to enjoin the Arizona Agriculture and Horticulture Commission (“Commission”) from removing eight crested saguaro cacti from an extensive collection of desert plants at their residence.

ISSUES

The appeal raises the following issues: (1) whether A.R.S. section 12-1802(4) and (6) precluded the superior court from enjoining the Commission’s efforts to enforce the Arizona Native Plants Act, A.R.S. section 3-901 et seq
(2) whether the Wallaces’ verified amended complaint and attachments provided evidence from which injunctive relief could reasonably be found appropriate;
(3) whether A.R.S. section 3-931(C), as applied here, violated the Wallaces’ right to due process of law by permitting the Commission to seize and confiscate native plants in the Wallaces’ possession without providing the Wallaces with notice and an opportunity for a hearing at which the Commission would be required to establish its legal right to seize the property; and
(4) whether A.R.S. section 3-931(C), under which the Commission constructively seized and sought to remove the cacti from the Wallaces’ premises, is unconstitutional because it authorizes unlawful searches and seizures.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-2101(F)(2).

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Wallaces own a collection of several hundred types and species of cacti and other desert plants from all over the world. Included are eight crested saguaro cacti that the Wallaces purchased approximately a year and a half before the instant action. These cacti have a genetic defect that causes a distinctive growth of a unique crest formation at the top. Both the Commission and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service maintain records and photographs of all known crested saguaros.

In late July of 1989, through an anonymous telephone call to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Commission learned that a number of crested saguaro cacti on the Wallaces’ property had allegedly been stolen from federal, state and private lands. Larry Richards, an employee of the Commission, later allegedly identified four crested saguaros on the Wallaces’ land as having been stolen from federal land, seven as having been stolen from state trust land, and one as having been stolen from private property.

At all times material to this action, the Commission administered the Arizona Native Plants Act, A.R.S. section 3-901 et [169]*169seq.1 A.R.S. section 3-931 of the Act at the time provided in part:

A. An employee, officer or agent of the commission may enter in or on any premises or other place, train, vehicle or other means of transportation within or entering this state, if he has reason to believe there is present or on such premises or means of transportation a protected native plant taken, transported or possessed in violation of this chapter.
C. In the enforcement of this chapter, a peace officer or an officer or employee of the commission may make arrests without warrant for a violation of this chapter which he may witness and may confiscate, or seize by the attachment of a “warning hold” notice, any protected native plant found without a valid and properly affixed tag and seal when required by this chapter, or any plant by-product, fiber or wood from protected native plants found in the possession of a person without a valid receipt if a receipt is required under this chapter. It is unlawful to move or otherwise handle or dispose of any protected plant or part of a plant held under a “warning hold” notice, except with the express written permission of the enforcing officer, and for the specified purpose. Plants, by-products, fiber or wood confiscated under this subsection, if not released to the person from whom they were seized before such time, shall be disposed of by the commission or pursuant to court order at the conclusion of the proceedings.

(Emphasis added.)

On July 19, 1990, Richards obtained a warrant from the Scottsdale Justice Court to search the Wallaces’ premises and seize the eight, allegedly stolen, crested saguaros. On searching the Wallaces’ premises, Richards tagged the eight crested saguaros with “warning hold” notices.

On the day of the seizures, the Wallaces’ counsel met with representatives of the Commission and their counsel. As a result, the Commission agreed to suspend further enforcement of the search warrant until July 31, 1990, to allow the Wallaces to discuss the situation further with the Commission staff. One of the topics discussed at the meeting was whether the eight saguaros were subject to deterioration due to “bacterial necrosis.” The Wallaces took the position that they were not.

On July 27, 1990, the Wallaces’ counsel and Dr. Mark Dimmitt, Plant Curator of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, met with Richards and Raymond Linquidst from the Commission on the Wallaces’ premises. Richards was unable to identify any active bacterial necrosis on any of the plants in the Wallaces’ collection. On July 30,1990, the Wallaces’ counsel wrote to the Commission director applying for a scientific permit for the collection or requesting an additional 30-day postponement of search warrant enforcement while discussions continued. See A.R.S. § 3-906(B). His letter attached written materials concerning the scientific value of the collection and statements from various persons involved in horticulture and conservation expressing the opinion that the eight saguaros would very likely not survive retran-splantation. The letter also stated:

We come down to the problem therefore of compensation to the State for the loss of these plants and removing the stigma of their being stolen so that they might remain in the Wallace scientific collection. As stated previously, Mr. Wallace’s position is that he is willing to discuss the issue of compensation, even though he is a victim of the perpetrators of this heinous crime, and that he has already paid money for the purchase of these particular saguaros.

[170]*170The record does not reflect that the Commission has acted on this application for scientific permit.

The Wallaces’ counsel was unable to contact any representatives of the Commission on July 31, 1990, and the agreed two week extension expired at midnight on that date. The next day, a representative of the Commission informed the Wallaces’ counsel that the Commission’s director had rejected the Wallaces’ various proposals and planned to have officials of the State Land Department remove the cacti from the Wal-laces’ property. In response, the Wallaces’ counsel wrote to the Commission in part as follows:

Please be advised that removal of the saguaro cactuses [sic] will result in irreparable harm to hundreds of other plants in the Wallace collection.

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Bluebook (online)
854 P.2d 1152, 175 Ariz. 166, 129 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 32, 1992 Ariz. App. LEXIS 327, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wallace-v-shields-arizctapp-1992.