Durning v. ITT Rayonier Incorporated, Civ. A. No. 9070.
Decision Date | 06 October 1970 |
Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 9070. |
Citation | 325 F. Supp. 446 |
Parties | Marvin B. DURNING and his wife, Jean C. Durning as well for the United States of America, as for themselves, Plaintiffs, v. ITT RAYONIER INCORPORATED, a Delaware corporation, and John Doe One through John Doe Twenty, Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Washington |
George N. Prince and Marvin B. Durning, Cary, Durning, Prince & Smith, Seattle, Wash., for plaintiffs.
De Forest Perkins, Perkins, Coie, Stone, Olsen, & Williams, Seattle, Wash., for defendants.
Section 16 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, 33 U.S.C. § 411, provides:
The defendant moves for an order dismissing plaintiff's complaint, contending that plaintiff has no standing to sue.
In opposition to defendant's motion, plaintiff contends that the last clause of the Rivers and Harbors Act, 33 U.S.C. § 411, grants him the right to bring his action.
He premises his contention on his claim that this congressional enactment implies that a civil action by an informant is permissible if the informant seeks to recover his "bounty".
This Court concludes that Congress in enacting this criminal statute intended to reward an informant for information leading to the conviction of the wrongdoer and not to provide a means by which an informant may proceed to recover against the violator of the criminal statute the amount he might otherwise receive from a fine which "might" be imposed after conviction of the defendant in a criminal proceeding.
If plaintiff's contention is correct, the Court would be in the awkward position of determining priority between a criminal prosecution by the United States through the United States Attorney and a civil...
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