Briles v. 2013 GMC Terrain, A16-0768

• Decision Date: 13 March 2017
• Docket Number: A16-0768
• Citation: 892 N.W.2d 525
• Parties: Russell Eldon BRILES, Appellant, v. 2013 GMC TERRAIN, MN LICENSE NUMBER: 168KSE, VIN: 2GKFLZE3XD6336507, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

892 N.W.2d 525

Russell Eldon BRILES, Appellant,

v.2013 GMC TERRAIN, MN LICENSE NUMBER: 168KSE, VIN: 2GKFLZE3XD6336507, Respondent.

A16-0768

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

Filed March 13, 2017

Review Granted May 30, 2017

James M. Ventura, Wayzata, Minnesota (for appellant).

Ronald Hocevar, Scott County Attorney, Todd P. Zettler, Assistant County Attorney, Shakopee, Minnesota (for respondent).

Considered and decided by Jesson, Presiding Judge; Ross, Judge; and Schellhas, Judge.

ROSS, Judge

OPINION

Savage Police arrested Russell Briles's drunk son after he crashed and totaled Briles's GMC Terrain sport utility vehicle. The police department seized the vehicle and notified Briles of its intent to forfeit it under the impaired-driver forfeiture statute, Minnesota Statutes section 169A.63. Briles had no intent to recover the totaled, seized wreck, planning instead to recover on his automobile insurance policy. But unbeknownst to Briles, the police department's attorney told his insurer to hold any insurance proceeds and implied that the department had the right to them. Briles discovered the city's representation to his insurer only after the statutory 60-day deadline for his right to file a civil complaint to challenge the forfeiture. Briles filed a demand for judicial determination anyway, arguing that the GMC had been improperly seized and that insurance proceeds are not forfeitable under the statute. The district court rejected his filing as untimely based on its conclusion that the police department had the right to any insurance proceeds. Because Briles filed his demand for judicial determination of the vehicle forfeiture after the statutory deadline, we affirm in part. But because the statute authorizes only the forfeiture of a person's possessory and ownership interests in a seized vehicle, not that person's insurance contract rights, we reverse in part.

FACTS

Russell Briles's son Andrew went on a joyride in Briles's 2013 GMC Terrain, without Briles's permission, while Briles and his wife were away on a camping trip in September 2015. Savage Police observed the GMC speeding, and Andrew led police on a high-speed chase until he lost control and crashed the car. Police removed him from the car, obviously intoxicated, and he eventually completed a breath test revealing a 0.22 alcohol concentration. The state charged him with fleeing police, second-degree impaired driving, and driving after his license had been cancelled. He had five previous alcohol-related driving convictions or license revocations.

Andrew told police that he had never previously driven the GMC and that he did not have Briles's permission to drive it. Police called Briles that same day. He likewise told police that the GMC belonged to him, not to Andrew, and that Andrew had no permission to drive the GMC or any other car. The officer told Briles that the vehicle was being held for forfeiture and that a certified letter declaring that had already been sent. A transcript of that telephone discussion reveals that the officer never discussed insurance coverage or mentioned any interest in insurance proceeds.

On September 25, 2015, Briles received by certified mail the formal "Notice of Seizure and Intent to Forfeit Vehicle / Property," identifying Briles's GMC and stating, "This property is subject to forfeiture because it was used to commit: Impaired Driving—MS § 169A.63." Minnesota Statutes section 169A.63 is the impaired-driving forfeiture statute. The notice also stated, "You will automatically lose the above-described property and the right to be heard in court if you do not file a lawsuit and serve the prosecuting authority within 60 days," and, "Forfeiture of the property is automatic unless within 60 days following service of this Notice of Seizure, you, or any person who has a legal interest in the property, file a demand for a determination by a judge." The notice said nothing about the department's plan to seize or forfeit any insurance proceeds related to the crash.

On the same day that Briles received the written forfeiture notice, an assistant Scott County attorney sent a letter to Briles's insurance carrier, Progressive Insurance. The letter notified Progressive of the police department's forfeiture interest in Briles's GMC, and, citing Schug v. $9,916.50 in U.S. Currency , 669 N.W.2d 379 (Minn.App.2003), review denied (Minn. Dec. 16, 2003), urged Progressive not to disburse any insurance proceeds until the forfeiture was resolved. The attorney did not copy Briles on this letter to his insurer. Briles did not learn about the letter until early December 2015. But this was after the statutory 60-day filing deadline to challenge the forfeiture and after the county attorney had already filed with the district court an administrative forfeiture certificate, which indicated that Briles had not filed any administrative or judicial challenge to the forfeiture.

Briles filed a civil complaint on December 21, 2015, seeking a judicial determination of the forfeiture. In it, he maintained that his vehicle was improperly seized, that he did not consent to his son's use of the vehicle, and that he was an "innocent owner" under section 169A.63, subdivision 7(d). He also asserted that he did not commit the offense, that the notice of forfeiture failed to inform him that the police department was seeking insurance proceeds, and that the city tortiously interfered with his insurance contract.

The City of Savage moved the district court to dismiss Briles's challenge for lack of jurisdiction based on Briles's failure to file his complaint within the 60 days allowed by section 169A.63, subdivision 8(e). Briles opposed the motion, arguing first that his vehicle was not properly subject to forfeiture because Andrew drove it without permission and that this circumstance excludes the GMC from the statutory definition of "motor vehicle" and defeats the city's legal basis for the forfeiture. He also argued that the rule in Schug does not apply, that the city improperly failed to notify him of its intent to claim insurance proceeds, and that, regardless of whether his complaint was timely to challenge forfeiture of the GMC, it was timely to challenge forfeiture of insurance proceeds, because of the city's failure to provide notice.

The district court found that Briles failed to raise his innocent-owner defense in a timely filing. It also found that it lacked jurisdiction to reach the merits of Briles's claims because Briles received proper notice and failed to timely seek a judicial determination of the forfeiture. The district court nonetheless held that the impaired-driver forfeiture statute "specifically states that the seizing agency is vested with ‘[a]ll right, title, and interest’ in the vehicle—that is in this case, the Savage Police Department's right to the totaled vehicle's insurance proceeds." The district court dismissed Briles's complaint with prejudice.

Briles appeals.

ISSUES

I. Does an aggrieved person who claims that his vehicle was improperly seized by a law enforcement agency for a designated offense under Minnesota Statutes section 169A.63, because the vehicle had previously been stolen or taken in violation of law, forfeit that claim if he raises it in a civil complaint demanding a judicial determination of the forfeiture's validity filed after the statutory period for challenging the forfeiture?

II. Does a forfeiting agency's authority to forfeit the "right, title, and interest" in a wrecked vehicle under Minnesota Statutes section 169A.63 include the right to any insurance proceeds for damage to the vehicle to which the policyholder is otherwise entitled?

ANALYSIS

Briles argues that the district court erred by dismissing his complaint because his son Andrew admitted that he had knowingly taken the car without permission, excluding the seized GMC from the definition of a forfeitable "motor vehicle" under the statute and, consequently, voiding the forfeiture from the outset. This argument fails, so we affirm in part. Briles also maintains that the district court erred by holding that any insurance proceeds are forfeitable property under the impaired-driver vehicle-forfeiture statute. This argument prevails, so we reverse in part.

I

Briles argues that the district court erred by granting the city's motion to dismiss his vehicle-forfeiture challenge for lack of jurisdiction. We review de novo whether a district court had jurisdiction. Garde v. One 1992 Ford Explorer XLT , 662 N.W.2d 165, 166 (Minn.App.2003). Determining whether the district court had jurisdiction here requires us to interpret the impaired-driver vehicle-forfeiture statute, and statutory interpretation is a legal question that we review de novo. Patino v. One 2007 Chevrolet , 821 N.W.2d 810, 813 (Minn.2012). Our goal in statutory interpretation is to determine and effectuate the legislature's intent. Id. ; Minn. Stat. § 645.16 (2016). If a statute is unambiguous, we look for intent nowhere else and follow its plain language. Garde , 662 N.W.2d at 166 ; Minn. Stat. § 645.16 (providing that when statutory language is "clear and free from all ambiguity, the letter of the law shall not be disregarded under the pretext of pursuing the spirit").

Briles contends that his GMC was not a "vehicle" as defined by the forfeiture statute because his son took it without permission. As a result, he argues, the forfeiture proceeding was "void ab initio ," implicitly rendering the untimeliness of his filing inconsequential. Minnesota Statutes section 169A.63 establishes the procedure for impaired-driver vehicle forfeiture. It first defines the terms used in the section and lists the designated offenses triggering forfeiture. Minn. Stat. § 169A.63, subd. 1(b)-(j). It states, " ‘Motor vehicle’ and ‘vehicle’ do not include a vehicle which is stolen or taken in violation of the law." Id. , subd. 1(g). When a driver commits one of the offenses that triggers a forfeiture, the forfeiting agency can seize the vehicle and...