Cantrell v. Putnam County Sheriff's Dep't

• Decision Date: 17 October 2008
• Docket Number: No. 67A01-0804-CV-192.,67A01-0804-CV-192.
• Parties: Eddie CANTRELL and Cantrell Building Services, Inc., Appellants-Defendants, v. PUTNAM COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT and the State of Indiana, Appellees-Plaintiffs.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

894 N.E.2d 1081

Eddie CANTRELL and Cantrell Building Services, Inc., Appellants-Defendants, v. PUTNAM COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT and the State of Indiana, Appellees-Plaintiffs.

No. 67A01-0804-CV-192.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

October 17, 2008.

Jeffrey A. Boggess, Greencastle, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Christopher B. Gambill, Wagner Crawford Gambill & Trout, Terre Haute, IN, Attorney for Appellee.

OPINION

BROWN, Judge.

Eddie Cantrell ("Cantrell") and Cantrell Building Services, Inc. ("Corporation"), appeal the trial court's judgment for the Putnam County Sheriff's Department ("Sheriff's Department") and the State of Indiana ("State"). Cantrell and the Corporation raise two issues, which we consolidate and restate as whether the trial court erred by ordering the forfeiture of a vehicle owned by the Corporation after Cantrell was arrested with drugs in the vehicle. We affirm.

The relevant facts follow. Cantrell was the president and sole shareholder of the Corporation, which owned a 2005 Cadillac Escalade. The Corporation provided the Escalade to Cantrell as part of his compensation package. In November 2005, Cantrell went on a hunting trip for personal pleasure to Kansas City and drove the Escalade. On November 4, 2005, as Cantrell was returning from the trip, Deputy Dwight Simmons stopped Cantrell for having a false and fictitious registration. During a search of the vehicle,¹ Deputy Simmons found six grams of cocaine in the vehicle. The cocaine was for Cantrell's personal use. Cantrell was ultimately convicted of possession of cocaine as a class C felony.

The Sheriff's Department and the State filed a complaint for forfeiture of the Cadillac Escalade pursuant to Ind.Code §§ 34-24-1. After a bench trial, the trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law granting the forfeiture request.

The issue is whether the trial court erred by ordering the forfeiture of the vehicle owned by the Corporation after Cantrell was arrested with drugs in the vehicle. The trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Ind. Trial Rule 52(A). We may not set aside the findings or judgment unless they are clearly erroneous. Menard, Inc. v. Dage-MTI, Inc., 726 N.E.2d 1206, 1210 (Ind.2000), reh'g denied. In our review, we first consider whether the evidence supports the factual findings. Id. Second, we consider whether the findings support the judgment. Id. "Findings are clearly erroneous only when the record contains no facts to support them either directly or by inference." Quillen v. Quillen, 671 N.E.2d 98, 102 (Ind.1996). A judgment is clearly erroneous if it relies on an incorrect legal standard. Menard, 726 N.E.2d at 1210. We give due regard to the trial court's ability to assess the credibility of witnesses. Id. While we defer substantially to findings of fact, we do not do so to conclusions of law. Id. We do not reweigh the evidence; rather we consider the evidence most favorable to the judgment with all reasonable inferences drawn in favor of the judgment. Yoon v. Yoon, 711 N.E.2d 1265, 1268 (Ind.1999).

Forfeiture is properly classified as civil in nature. Katner v. State, 655 N.E.2d 345, 347 (Ind.1995). "Serving more than a punitive purpose, civil forfeiture proceedings advance diverse legislative interests—while punishing and deterring those who have engaged in illegal drug activity, forfeiture simultaneously advances other non-punitive, remedial legislative goals." Id. "First, forfeiture creates an economic disincentive to engage in future illegal acts." Id. at 347-348. "It also serves another significant, albeit secondary, purpose. Forfeiture advances our Legislature's intent to minimize taxation by permitting law enforcement agencies, via the sale of property seized, to defray some of the expense incurred in the battle against drug dealing." Id. at 348.

The forfeiture of a vehicle is governed by Ind.Code § 34-24-1-1,² which provides:

(a) The following may be seized:

(1) All vehicles (as defined by IC 35-41-1), if they are used or are intended for use by the person or persons in possession of them to transport or in any manner to facilitate the transportation of the following:

(A) A controlled substance for the purpose of committing, attempting to commit, or conspiring to commit any of the following:

* * * * *

(vii) Possession of cocaine or a narcotic drug (IC 35-48-4-6).

* * * * *

The State must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the property was subject to seizure. Ind.Code § 34-24-1-4(a).

Cantrell and the Corporation argue that: (1) the State failed to prove a nexus between the vehicle and the cocaine offense, which is necessary under the Indiana Supreme Court's Katner decision; and (2) the Corporation did not have knowledge of Cantrell's criminal conduct.

A. Nexus.

Cantrell and the Corporation first argue that the State failed to prove a nexus between the vehicle and Cantrell's underlying offense. In support of this argument, Cantrell and the Corporation rely upon Katner, 655 N.E.2d at 347-349. In Katner, the defendant was arrested after a traffic stop and an altercation with police. Id. at 347. In the defendant's pocket, the officers discovered a container which held less than 6/100th of one gram of cocaine. Id. As a result, the State sought forfeiture of the defendant's vehicle, which he was driving at the time of his arrest. Id. The trial court ordered the forfeiture of the vehicle, and this court reversed, holding that there was no nexus between the property seized and the offense upon which the seizure was based. Id. (citing Katner v. State, 640 N.E.2d 388, 390 (Ind. Ct.App.1994)).

The Indiana Supreme Court accepted transfer and agreed with the Court of Appeals. Id. The Supreme Court considered whether Ind.Code § 34-24-1-4(a), "which permits seizure of vehicles used to transport a controlled substance `for the purpose of committing, attempting[,] ... or conspiring' to possess cocaine, requires the State to show the existence of a relationship—a nexus—between the property sought in forfeiture and the underlying offense, here cocaine possession." Id. at 348. The Court concluded that the forfeiture statute "requires more than an incidental or fortuitous connection between the property and the underlying offense." Id. at 348-349. The Court held:

In order to assure that an adequate nexus exists between the property sought in forfeiture, and the underlying offense, we hold that the State bears the burden of demonstrating, by a preponderance of the evidence, this nexus: that the property sought in forfeiture was used "for the purpose of committing, attempting to commit, or conspiring to commit" an enumerated offense under § 34-4-30.1-1. This nexus best articulates the threshold of proof that the State must achieve before succeeding in a forfeiture action, and is congruent with § 34-4-30.1-4 which requires the prosecutor at the forfeiture hearing to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that property is subject to forfeiture under § 34-4-30.1-1. The Indiana forfeiture statute requires more than a mere demonstration that the vehicle's operator possessed cocaine. Rather, under the portion of our statute which we examine today, the State must show that the operator [(1)] used ... the vehicle to transport an illicit substance or item listed in the statute, (2) for the purpose of committing possession, attempting to commit possession, or conspiring to possess the substance or item. The second limitation, requiring the State to show transportation for a specific purpose, serves an important function, i.e. avoiding forfeiture where the operator of a vehicle coincidentally possesses drug residue, but is not transporting the residue, or using the vehicle in any other way to further possession or conspiracy to possess.

Id. at 349. The Court concluded:

This nexus requirement is a means to guarantee that the government is seizing actual instruments of the illegal drug trade. The language of the statute is directed toward instruments of this illicit activity, in hopes of retarding, through asset forfeiture, expanding drug commerce. Depriving persons of their property such as vehicles unrelated to the drug trade will do little to advance our Legislature's intent.

Id. Quoting the Court of Appeals, the Court determined that "[w]hile the presence of the cocaine residue in the glass tube was sufficient to support Katner's possession conviction, his possession of the substance in his automobile did not constitute `transportation' of cocaine for the purpose of possessing the drug." Id.

The trial court here concluded that Katner was distinguishable because the defendant in Katner possessed only cocaine residue and, on the other hand, Cantrell possessed six grams of cocaine. We agree. In Katner, the defendant was found with cocaine residue in his pocket while he was driving his vehicle. Here, Cantrell admittedly used the vehicle to transport seven grams of cocaine to Kansas on his hunting trip and then used the vehicle to transport his remaining six grams of cocaine back to Indiana. When the vehicle was searched, the cocaine was found hidden in the vehicle in a cigarette pack and in his luggage. We conclude that Cantrell was transporting the cocaine and using the vehicle to further his possession of the cocaine. The State demonstrated that the vehicle was used to "facilitate the transportation" of the cocaine "for the purpose of committing, attempting to commit, or conspiring to commit ... [p]ossession of cocaine...." Ind.Code § 34-24-1-4. Consequently, we conclude that the State demonstrated a nexus between Cantrell's possession of the cocaine and the use of the vehicle.

B. Knowledge.

Because the Corporation, not Cantrell personally, was the owner of the Escalade, the Corporation argues that the trial court pierced the corporate veil to order forfeiture of the vehicle. However, we do not perceive the issue as one of piercing the corporate veil....