U.S. v. Beechcraft Queen Airplane Serial No. LD-24, LD-24

• Decision Date: 30 May 1986
• Docket Number: LD-24,No. 85-1396,A,85-1396
• Citation: 789 F.2d 627
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. BEECHCRAFT QUEEN AIRPLANE SERIAL NUMBERppellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 627

789 F.2d 627

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. BEECHCRAFT QUEEN AIRPLANE SERIAL NUMBER LD-24, Appellant.

No. 85-1396.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Jan. 15, 1986.

Decided April 29, 1986.

Rehearing Denied May 30, 1986.

Timothy O. Dudley, Little Rock, Ark., for appellant.

Steven N. Snyder, Fort Smith, Ark., for appellee.

Before HEANEY, ARNOLD and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges.

ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

This is a suit by the United States for forfeiture of an airplane allegedly used in illegal drug trade. Beechcraft Queen Airplane, Serial No. LD-24, appeals from the District Court's ¹ decree of forfeiture. For reversal, appellant argues that 1) the trial court erred in striking an answer filed by one Bruce Brown and granting a default judgment to plaintiff; and 2) the trial court had no subject matter jurisdiction over the action. We affirm.

I.

The government's complaint alleged in substance as follows. In March 1983, Bruce Stanley Brown crashed a Cessna airplane in Louisiana. A search of the plane revealed marijuana debris, certain equipment needed for long-range over-water flights, and registration papers in the name of Jake V. Taylor for the Beechcraft Queen that is the subject of this action. A search warrant was obtained for the Beechcraft on February 19, 1984; the search revealed marijuana seeds in the plane and evidence that all the seats had been removed and replaced.

The complaint, filed on August 31, 1984, sought forfeiture under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 881(a)(4), on the ground that the plane had been used to transport marijuana. The Clerk of the District Court issued a warrant of seizure and monition, and the United States Marshal was directed to serve both the complaint and the warrant of seizure on the airplane and on Bruce Stanley Brown, a/k/a Jake V. Taylor, who was believed to be the plane's owner. On September 20, 1984, according to the return of service filed in the District Court, the Marshal served the plane at the Arkadelphia, Arkansas airport, and put warning posters on the plane to give notice that it had been seized. Arkadelphia is in the Western District of Arkansas. On September 25, 1984, the Marshal served the warrant of seizure and the complaint on Bruce Brown at his place of employment in Louisiana.

In forfeiture proceedings brought under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 881, the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims must be followed. 21 U.S.C. Sec. 881(b) (1982). Rule C(6) of the Supplemental Rules requires:

The claimant of property that is the subject of an action in rem shall file his claim within 10 days after process has been executed, or within such additional time as may be allowed by the court, and shall serve his answer within 20 days after the filing of the claim. The claim shall be verified on oath or solemn affirmation, and shall state the interest in the property by virtue of which the claimant demands its restitution and the right to defend the action.

Bruce Brown filed an answer to the complaint on October 12, 1984. Brown's answer admitted that he bought the plane in 1982, that he flew it to the Arkadelphia Airport, and that he had been paying $225.00 per month to Central Flying Service to store the plane at the airport. It did not specifically admit that he was the owner, and there was no sworn statement by Brown that he had an interest in the plane. The only signature on the answer was that of Brown's attorney. Brown did not file any pleadings within 10 days of service of process, and he never filed a verified claim of the type required by Rule C(6).

The United States then moved to strike defendant's answer because Brown had not filed a verified claim and therefore had no right to answer or defend the suit. The District Court granted the motion to strike and issued an order giving reasons for its decision. Brown then filed a "Motion for reconsideration of order striking answer" and a motion to dismiss for want of jurisdiction. Both motions were denied. The government moved for default judgment, and the Court found the defendant in default and issued a decree of forfeiture.

II.

Defendant argues that the trial court should not have granted plaintiff's motion to strike because the answer filed by Bruce Brown served the basic purpose of Rule C(6). That purpose is to inform the court that there is a claimant to the property who wants it back and intends to defend it. It is argued that admiralty procedure is to be liberally construed, and that the trial court had discretion to allow Brown to proceed on the merits even though he had not technically complied with the Rule.

We hold that the District Court did not abuse its discretion by requiring strict compliance with Rule C(6) and striking Brown's answer because he did not precede it with a verified claim.

Two recent cases in other circuits have denied relief to claimants who did not file proper claims under Rule C(6). The Seventh Circuit expressly rejected a claimant's argument that a claim he had filed with the DEA should suffice to fulfill the requirements of Supplemental Rule C(6). United States v. United States Currency in the Amount of $2,857, 754 F.2d 208 (7th Cir.1985). The court emphasized that the DEA claim was "not verified on oath or solemn affirmation, an essential element of a claim under Rule C(6)." Id. at 213. Any party who wishes to defend a forfeiture action should be forced to swear to his interest in the forfeited property, it said. And in United States v. One 1978 Piper Navajo PA-31 Aircraft, 748 F.2d 316 (5th Cir.1984), the Fifth Circuit held that a district court did not abuse its discretion in denying claimant's motion to set aside a default judgment, because claimant failed to show excusable neglect or a meritorious defense. This Court has decided no case exactly in point, but in an admiralty case we said that "it was incumbent on [the claimant], if it desired the return of specific property, to put its ownership clearly in issue ... by filing its claim in accordance with Rule C(6) ... or by timely filing a proper motion to intervene." Bank of New Orleans and Trust Co. v. Marine Credit Corp., 583 F.2d 1063, 1068 (8th Cir.1978).

Appellant cites three cases in which claimants were relieved of the harsh consequences of not filing a timely verified claim under Rule C(6). All are district court cases. In these cases and in two others that granted some form of relief, the claimant had filed some form of claim or supporting document in addition to his answer. See United States v. One 1979 Oldsmobile-Cutlass Supreme, VIN: 3M47P9M429787, 589 F.Supp. 477, 478 (N.D.Ga.1984) (Customs Service sent a claim form to claimant and instructed her to send the form to it); United States v. 1967 Mooney M20-F Aircraft, FAA # N9588M, Serial No. 670165, 597 F.Supp. 531, 532 (N.D.Ga.1983) (claimant received notice of seizure from DEA which told him to file claim with DEA); United States v. Articles of Hazardous Substance, 444 F.Supp. 1260, 1263 (M.D.N.C.) (affidavits), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 588 F.2d 39 (4th Cir.1978); United States v. One 1966 Chevrolet Pickup Truck, 56 F.R.D. 459, 460 (E.D.Tex.1972) (claim filed with IRS; claimant's attorney called U.S. Attorney to make sure he had followed proper procedure); United States v. Two Hundred and One, Fifty Pound Bags of Furazolidone, 52 F.R.D. 222, 223 (D.N.D.1971) (proof of judgment of acquittal on related criminal charge). Moreover, in at least three of these cases the claimant relied on some representation by the government that the claim he or she had filed was sufficient. See Cutlass Supreme, 589 F.Supp. at 478, Mooney Aircraft, 597 F.Supp. at 532; Chevrolet Pickup, 56 F.R.D. at 460.

A more liberal approach might be appropriate if Brown had timely petitioned the court to grant an extension of time, or if he could show that he had never received actual notice of the complaint, or some other mitigating circumstances, but he makes only a general plea for liberal construction. Brown may have believed that he had thirty days to file a response because that is what the warrant of seizure and monition said. However, he makes no allegation that he relied to his detriment on this or on any representation made by the government. Indeed, we are given no reason why the proper claim was not filed. We conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in striking Brown's answer.

III.

Brown's answer having been stricken, he is out of the case. But the airplane itself, the res, is of course still in. It was the defendant in form below, and it is the appellant here. It argues that the District Court was without subject-matter jurisdiction over this action. Appellant's argument really is that the Court did not have in rem jurisdiction over the subject matter (the airplane) of the forfeiture action. This claim of lack of jurisdiction is based on certain deficiencies in the government's complaint; we are told that the complaint did not satisfy the procedural requirements of Rule C(2) of the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims. Rule C(2) st...