CRM v. State
| Decision Date | 04 December 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 42A05-0304-JV-204.,42A05-0304-JV-204. |
| Citation | 799 N.E.2d 555 |
| Parties | C.R.M., Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
J. Dirk Carnahan, Vincennes, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Andrew A. Kobe, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
C.R.M. appeals the denial of his motion to dismiss the State's petition alleging delinquency. He raises one issue, which we restate as whether the delinquency petition subjects him to double jeopardy when, based on the same possession of marijuana, he had already been subjected to a forfeiture proceeding under Ind.Code § 34-24-1-1.1 We affirm and remand for delinquency proceedings.
On April 26, 2002, three police officers conducted an investigation at Vincennes Lincoln High School. In the pocket of C.R.M.'s pants, which were hanging in a gym locker, the officers found a wallet containing $550.00 and a cigarette box containing a plastic bag of marijuana and a rolled cigarette. C.R.M. admitted he was "a dope head," (App. at 5), but he denied being a drug dealer.
On May 8, 2002, the State filed a civil forfeiture claim against C.R.M., pursuant to Ind.Code § 34-24-1-1, to take the $550.00 found in his wallet. On June 10, 2002, the trial court entered a default judgment against C.R.M., forfeiting the $550.00.
On June 26, 2002, the State filed a petition alleging C.R.M. was a delinquent for committing possession of marijuana, which is a Class A misdemeanor if committed by an adult.2 On July 25, 2002, C.R.M. filed a motion to dismiss, claiming the delinquency petition unconstitutionally subjected him to double jeopardy. The trial court denied his motion and certified its order for interlocutory appeal. We accepted jurisdiction.
C.R.M. claims the trial court erred by denying his motion to dismiss the State's delinquency petition alleging he possessed marijuana. C.R.M. argues the delinquency petition constitutes an unconstitutional second punishment under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution because the State already punished him for possessing marijuana via forfeiture proceedings.3 "Because the issue is a pure question of law, we conduct a de novo review." O'Connor v. State, 789 N.E.2d 504, 508 (Ind.Ct.App.2003), trans. denied.
The Federal Double Jeopardy Clause provides: "[N]or shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." U.S. Const. Amend. V. The Clause prohibits both successive punishments and successive prosecutions. United States v. Ursery, 518 U.S. 267, 273, 116 S.Ct. 2135, 135 L.Ed.2d 549 (1996). Important to C.R.M. is the fact that the Clause prohibits the government from "attempting a second time to punish criminally for the same offense." Id.
The State obtained C.R.M.'s $550 by way of a forfeiture proceeding. Forfeiture proceedings have characteristics of both civil and criminal proceedings, as they serve both remedial and punitive goals. Katner v. State, 655 N.E.2d 345, 347 (Ind. 1995). In fact, forfeiture of expensive or important items, such as a car or house, can have a "significant and potentially severe punitive function." Id. Therefore, we must determine whether the forfeiture proceeding by which the State confiscated $550 from C.R.M. constituted a "criminal punishment" for the purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause.
The statute through which the State obtained title to the $550 was Ind. Code § 34-24-1-1, which permits the State to seize money or property that is used to commit or attempt to commit certain crimes. Causes of action filed against property rather than against a person are actions "in rem."4 Accordingly, a forfeiture action under Ind.Code ch. 34-24-1 is an in rem action. See State v. Klein, 702 N.E.2d 771 (Ind.Ct.App.1998)
(), trans. denied 726 N.E.2d 306 (Ind.1999).
"Since the earliest years of this Nation, Congress has authorized the Government to seek parallel in rem civil forfeiture actions and criminal prosecutions based upon the same underlying events." Ursery, 518 U.S. at 274, 116 S.Ct. 2135. The United States Supreme Court has considered whether such parallel proceedings violate the Double Jeopardy Clause, "consistently concluding that the Clause does not apply to such actions because [civil forfeitures] do not impose punishment." Id.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has developed a two-part test to determine whether, in a specific case, an in rem forfeiture constitutes criminal punishment for Fifth Amendment purposes. Id. at 288, 116 S.Ct. 2135. First, we ask whether the legislature intended the proceedings under Ind.Code § 34-24-1-1 to be civil or criminal. See id. Second, we determine "whether the proceedings are so punitive in fact as to `persuade us that the forfeiture proceedings may not legitimately be viewed as civil in nature,' despite [the legislature's] intent." Id. (quoting United States v. One Assortment of 89 Firearms, 465 U.S. 354, 366, 104 S.Ct. 1099, 79 L.Ed.2d 361 (1984)).
Under the first step of this analysis, we have no doubt that our legislature intended forfeitures under Ind.Code ch. 34-24-1 to be civil in nature. In fact, our supreme court has held the legislature intended proceedings under the prior version of this statute to be civil. Katner, 655 N.E.2d at 347 (). See also Klein, 702 N.E.2d at 774
(). Accordingly, we follow that precedent.
Under the second step, we are to consider whether, despite the legislature's intent, the proceedings are so punitive we must consider the forfeiture a criminal proceeding. Ursery, 518 U.S. at 274,116 S.Ct. 2135. The Supreme Court has stressed that, to find a statute criminal despite Congress' intent to the contrary, we need the "clearest proof" that the statute is punitive in form and effect. Id. at 290, 116 S.Ct. 2135. Some of the factors we may consider when making that determination include: 1) whether the statutes "serve important nonpunitive goals," id., such as ensuring property owners prohibit their property from being used for illegal purposes, abating a nuisance, and removing profits of illegal acts, id.; 2) whether the government's action has historically been regarded as punishment, Hudson v. United States, 522 U.S. 93, 99, 118 S.Ct. 488, 139 L.Ed.2d 450 (1997); 3) whether there is a requirement that the government demonstrate scienter, id.; 4) whether the deterrence serves civil as well as criminal goals, id.; 5) whether the "sanction involves an affirmative disability or restraint," id.; 6) whether the sanction is tied to criminal activity, id.; and 7) whether the sanction is excessive when compared to the purpose. Id.
C.R.M. argues that we should hold, under this second step, the forfeiture of his $550 was so punitive it amounted to a criminal proceeding. To support his argument, he cites Klein, 702 N.E.2d at 773. In Klein, another panel of this court held that the federal Double Jeopardy Clause was violated when the State filed criminal charges against a defendant after the State had seized the defendant's car based on the commission of the same offenses. Id. at 775. However, we decline to follow Klein for the following reason.
In reaching its decision under the second step of the Ursery test, the Klein panel said:
Other than the interview with [the victim], the Records do not contain any evidence that law enforcement was required to engage in a lengthy investigation. The Records similarly do not contain any evidence that Klein evaded or attempted to evade the police or that he put up any resistance when arrested, all of which might have caused the expenditure of law enforcement resources. Thus, as the trial court found, there is no purpose for the forfeiture other than punishment. For this reason, we hold that jeopardy attached upon the punitive forfeiture of Klein's car.
Id. at 774-775. The court further explained in a footnote that its decision rested on language in United States v. Torres, 28 F.3d 1463 (7th Cir.1994), cert. denied 513 U.S. 1059, 115 S.Ct. 669, 130 L.Ed.2d 603 (1994), wherein Judge Easterbrook said:
Klein, 702 N.E.2d at 775 n. 4 (quoting Torres, 28 F.3d at 1464-65).
However, between the time Judge Easterbrook made that statement in Torres and this court decided Klein, the United States Supreme Court decided Ursery, in which the Court was again asked to address whether in rem civil proceedings constituted "punishment" for Double Jeopardy purposes. The Court held:
In sum, nothing in Halper, Kurth Ranch, or Austin purported to replace our traditional understanding that civil forfeiture does not constitute punishment for the purpose of the Double Jeopardy Clause. Congress long has authorized the Government to bring parallel criminal proceedings and civil forfeiture proceedings, and this Court consistently has found civil forfeitures not to constitute punishment under the Double Jeopardy Clause. It would have been quite remarkable for this Court both to have held unconstitutional a well-established practice, and to have overruled a long line of precedent, without having even suggested that it was doing so. Halper dealt with in personam civil penalties under the Double Jeopardy Clause, Kurth Ranch with a tax...
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...a person are actions in rem.10 Accordingly, a forfeiture action under Ind.Code ch. 34-24-1 is an in rem action. C.R.M. v. State, 799 N.E.2d 555, 558 (Ind.Ct.App.2003); see also State v. Klein, 702 N.E.2d 771 (Ind.Ct.App.1998) (treating State's seizure of car under prior version of Ind.Code ......
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