U.S. v. One 1986 Nissan Maxima GL.
| Decision Date | 08 March 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-3510,89-3510 |
| Citation | 895 F.2d 1063 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ONE 1986 NISSAN MAXIMA GL., Defendant, Kandis Williams, Claimant-Appellant. Summary Calendar. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Frank G. DeSalvo and Dianne E. Varisco, New Orleans, La., for claimant-appellant.
Constantine D. Georges, Asst. U.S. Atty. and John Volz, U.S. Atty., New Orleans, La., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Before POLITZ, GARWOOD and JOLLY, Circuit Judges.
Kandis Williams appeals the forfeiture of a car titled in her name which the government successfully contended was purchased with proceeds derived from transactions involving controlled substances. Concluding that the government acquitted its burden of proof and that Williams failed to satisfy hers, we affirm.
Invoking 21 U.S.C. Sec. 881(a)(6), the government sought civil forfeiture of one 1986 Nissan Maxima GL automobile, VIN JN1HU11S8GT138975, alleging that Jonathan Johnson, a convicted drug dealer, had given Kandis Williams, his girlfriend, the money for its purchase from the proceeds of his illicit drug trafficking. Williams claimed ownership and denied that Johnson had provided her with the purchase funds.
The government offered the testimony of agent Susan Nave of the Drug Enforcement Administration, one of the agents assigned to the investigation of Jonathan Johnson. Agent Nave testified that Johnson had no source of income other than his drug activities. She further testified that Alexander Baker, one of Johnson's associates, and Reginene Hall, a female friend of Johnson, both informed her that Johnson had told them that he had purchased the Nissan for Williams.
The evidence reflects that Williams, who netted approximately $700 per month from her job as a clerk with a savings and loan association, purchased the auto in July 1986 with a $9,000 down payment. This substantial down payment was required because Williams' credit rating was tainted by a recent default on a $5,000 student loan. Williams initially wrote a check which was returned for insufficient funds. She then made the down payment in cash in small bills. The balance was financed through a GMAC loan calling for 48 monthly payments of $320. Williams accelerated the payout, paying the balance in January 1988 with her personal check for $8,348.29.
Williams' bank records reflect a deposit of $8,400 on the day before she paid the balance on the Nissan. She could not explain the source of that deposit. The average monthly balance in her checking account had never previously exceeded $600, however, and her largest prior deposit therein had been $300. Her checking and savings accounts together never totaled as much as $9,000. Her bank records also show a $4,000 deposit in her savings account on May 25, 1988, the date Johnson's sister may have accessed Johnson's safety deposit box. Nave testified that Johnson was arrested on May 23, 1988. Intelligence developed during the Johnson investigation indicated that he kept substantial sums of cash in his safety deposit box. A warrant executed on June 3, 1988 for the search of Johnson's bank box revealed it to be empty. Access records for the box showed an entry initialed by a PB on May 25, 1988. Johnson has a sister named Patricia Beal.
The parties stipulated that if called to the stand DEA agent Pat Warner would have testified substantially the same as agent Nave and if the salesman who sold the car to Williams were called to testify he would have attested to her poor credit rating, the dishonored check, and the cash down payment in small bills.
Reginene Hall testified that Johnson had told her that he had bought a Maxima automobile for Williams. She further testified that she knew Johnson was involved in the drug traffic, that it was his sole source of income, and that he carried large sums of money on his person.
Williams testified that she had dated Johnson and that he had given her money on occasion, but she denied that he had bought the car for her. She stated that she had purchased the auto with money saved from her salary, a $6,500 award from a personal injury lawsuit, gifts from friends and relatives, and money derived from babysitting and salvaging aluminum cans. Although she worked for a savings and loan association she kept most of her money in a metal box in her home. Her explanation for doing so was, at best, exceedingly dubitante.
On cross-examination Williams conceded that the largest gift she had...
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