People v. One 2014 GMC Sierra

• Decision Date: 27 February 2018
• Docket Number: Appeal No. 3–17–0029
• Citation: 99 N.E.3d 188,2018 IL App (3d) 170029
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. ONE 2014 GMC SIERRA, Defendant (Michael Sheland, Claimant–Appellant).
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2018 IL App (3d) 170029

99 N.E.3d 188

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v. ONE 2014 GMC SIERRA, Defendant(Michael Sheland, Claimant–Appellant).

Appeal No. 3–17–0029

Appellate Court of Illinois, Third District.

Opinion filed February 27, 2018

Kevin F. Sullivan, of Peoria, for appellant.

Jerry Brady, State’s Attorney, of Peoria (Patrick Delfino, Lawrence M. Bauer, and Dawn Duffy, of State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, of counsel), for the People.

PRESIDING JUSTICE CARTER delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Three months after a vehicle titled in his name was forfeited under the Illinois drug laws, claimant, Michael Sheland, filed a petition for relief from judgment, seeking the return of the vehicle. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the petition. Sheland appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in finding that (1) the vehicle had been used to facilitate the receipt or possession of heroin and was subject to forfeiture under the drug laws, (2) Sheland was not an innocent owner of the vehicle and was not protected from forfeiture under the innocent-owner exemption, and (3) the forfeiture of the vehicle under the facts of the present case did not constitute an excessive fine under the eighth amendment. We affirm the trial court's judgment.

¶ 2 FACTS

¶ 3 On February 29, 2016, John Folder and Wendell Stephens were found unconscious in the front seat of a 2014 GMC Sierra truck at the intersection of Griswold Street and Lincoln Avenue in Peoria, Illinois. The engine of the vehicle was running, and the vehicle was in gear. Folder was in the driver's seat, and Stephens was in the passenger seat. Syringes and traces of heroin were found in the vehicle. The title to the vehicle was in the name of the claimant, Michael Sheland.

¶ 4 Folder and Stephens were transported to the hospital. At the hospital, Folder was questioned by police. Folder told police that he and Stephens had been at a bar in Pekin, Illinois, when they decided to go to a location in Peoria to get some heroin. After obtaining the heroin, Folder and Stephens used the heroin inside the vehicle. Folder provided a urine sample at the hospital, which showed the presence of a heroin metabolite in his system. Folder was later arrested for driving under the influence of drugs (DUI). He was not charged with possession of a controlled substance.

¶ 5 In May 2016, the State filed a complaint for forfeiture of the vehicle pursuant to section 505(a)(3) of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act (Substances Act) ( 720 ILCS 570/505(a)(3) (West 2016)) and section 9 of the Drug Asset Forfeiture Procedure Act (Forfeiture Act) ( 725 ILCS 150/9 (West 2016) ). In the complaint, the State alleged that the vehicle was used or was intended to be used to facilitate the receipt or possession of heroin in violation of the Substances Act.

¶ 6 Sheland filed a verified claim in the trial court, stating that he was the owner of the vehicle, disputing the State's attempt to obtain a forfeiture judgment, and seeking the return of the vehicle. Sheland later filed a verified answer and affirmative defense (collectively referred to as the answer) to the complaint. In the answer, Sheland asserted that the vehicle was not subject to forfeiture because it had not been used to facilitate the possession or consumption of heroin and that he was exempt from forfeiture because he was an innocent owner of the vehicle. As required by statute (id. § 6(C)(2)), bail in the amount of $2000 cash was posted. The bail money was posted by Folder.

¶ 7 In August 2016, a bench trial was held on the complaint for forfeiture. At the beginning of the trial, the parties submitted a written stipulation, which stated as follows:

"On February 29, 2016, John Folder drove the vehicle at issue, the 2014 GMC VIN# 3GTU2VEC7EG363426, to the Menard's in Pekin, Illinois to pick up fencing materials. He purchased the materials and they were placed in the bed of the truck.

Later in the day, Folder and Wendell Stephens drove to a bar in Pekin, Illinois. After leaving the bar, Folder drove them in the 2014 GMC to a location in south Peoria, Illinois with the purpose of purchasing heroin. Stephens purchased heroin, and the two used the heroin while they were inside the 2014 GMC.

Around 5:15pm on February 29, 2016 Peoria Police Officer Roger Martin responded to the intersection of S. Griswold St. and W. Lincoln Ave. in Peoria, Illinois on the report of a male slumped behind the wheel. Officer Martin found the 2014 GMC in the intersection with Folder unconscious in the driver's seat and Stephens unconscious in the passenger seat."

¶ 8 After the stipulation was admitted, the State rested its case-in-chief. Sheland moved for a directed finding, and the trial court reserved its ruling on that issue. The bench trial went forward and Sheland presented his case-in-chief.

¶ 9 John Folder testified that he lived in Havana, Illinois, and that Sheland lived with him. Sheland was the son of Folder's ex-girlfriend. According to Folder, Sheland was the owner of the subject vehicle (also referred to as the truck). On the day in question, Folder used Sheland's truck so that he could pick up some fencing materials at Menards. Folder drove the truck from Havana to the Menards store in Pekin, Illinois. Wendell Stephens went with him. Folder did not plan to use heroin that day and did not tell Sheland that he was going to use the truck to violate any law. After arriving at the store, Folder purchased the fencing materials, and the materials were loaded into the back of the truck.

¶ 10 After Folder and Stephens left Menards, they went to a tavern in Manito, Illinois, and had lunch. From there, they traveled to Peoria at Stephens's request. Folder did not know why Stephens wanted to go to Peoria. In Peoria, Folder and Stephens stopped at a person's house, and Stephens went inside. Folder did not know that Stephens was going to buy heroin inside the house. Folder did not remember anything after that point and testified that he had never used heroin before. Folder acknowledged, however, that he used heroin later that day (the incident at issue) and that he was arrested for DUI but stated that he did not remember doing any of those things.

¶ 11 On cross-examination, Folder denied telling Peoria police officer Scott Hulse that he and Stephens had discussed going to Peoria so that they could get something to get a "buzz." Folder admitted that he had used the truck on prior occasions and stated that he had purchased the truck for Sheland for all of the work Sheland had done for Folder and for Sheland to transport Folder from time to time. Folder paid approximately $15,000 in cash for the vehicle. The title for the vehicle was in Sheland's name. Folder paid for the insurance on the vehicle, and Sheland would pay him back by working off the money. According to Folder, due to his own physical condition and the medications he was taking (or had been taking), he did not drive frequently. Folder also denied that he had told Peoria police officer Troy Skaggs that he had put the vehicle in Sheland's name due to a tax problem and because of a pending lawsuit.¹

¶ 12 Twenty-eight-year-old Michael Sheland testified that Folder had previously dated Sheland's mother, that Sheland had known Folder for six or seven years, and that Sheland currently lived with Folder. On the date in question, Folder asked Sheland if he could use Sheland's truck (the subject vehicle) so that he could pick up some fencing materials at the Menards store in either Pekin or Peoria. Sheland and Folder each had a set of keys to the vehicle, and the vehicle was normally parked in Folder's garage when the vehicle was not in use. The vehicle had always been titled in Sheland's name. Sheland did not allow Folder to use the vehicle to get heroin and did not suspect that Folder would do so. Sheland did not believe that Folder had ever used heroin in the past or that Folder had ever misused prescription drugs and had never seen Folder consume much alcohol. The truck was Sheland's only vehicle. Sheland would clean the vehicle, and Folder would pay for service and repairs on the vehicle. Sheland used the vehicle to transport Folder and to seek employment for himself. Folder would always ask Sheland for permission to use the vehicle, although Sheland did not feel that Folder needed to do so. Sheland had never told Folder that he could not use the vehicle.

¶ 13 Peoria police officer Corey Miller testified that on the date in question, he responded to a call of two individuals passed out in a vehicle at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Griswold Street in Peoria. By the time Miller arrived at that location, both of the individuals, one of whom was Folder, had already been transported to the hospital. Miller went to the hospital to speak to Folder. At the hospital, Miller found Folder to be alert and talking and believed that Folder was in a right state of mind. Folder told Miller that he had come to Peoria to get high and referred to the vehicle as being "his." When Miller asked Folder why the vehicle was in Sheland's name, Folder stated that he was the owner of the vehicle but that he had put the vehicle in his son's (Sheland's) name due to some litigation or trouble that Folder was having with the Internal Revenue Service.

¶ 14 Peoria police asset forfeiture officer Lance Skaggs testified that Folder contacted him several times after the vehicle was impounded and tried to get the vehicle released. Folder told Scaggs that the vehicle was his vehicle and that he had put the vehicle in his stepson's name because he was trying to avoid some type of tax obligation.

¶ 15 After the evidence portion of the forfeiture hearing had concluded, the parties made their closing arguments. The State argued that Folder's conduct with the vehicle gave rise to its forfeiture, that Folder was the true owner of the vehicle, that Sheland merely held "bare legal title" to the...