United States v. $304,980.00 in U.S. Currency, 13–1710.

• Decision Date: 17 October 2013
• Docket Number: No. 13–1710.,13–1710.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. $304,980.00 IN UNITED STATES CURRENCY, et al., Defendants. Appeal of Randy Davis and Delores Davis, Claimants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

732 F.3d 812

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.$304,980.00 IN UNITED STATES CURRENCY, et al., Defendants.

Appeal of Randy Davis and Delores Davis, Claimants.

No. 13–1710.

United States Court of Appeals,Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 17, 2013.

Decided Oct. 17, 2013.

Michael Thompson, Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Fairview Heights, IL, for Plaintiff–Appellee.

Richard Brent Jones, Attorney, Jones Law Office, Tucson, AZ, for Claimants.

Before WILLIAMS, SYKES, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

TINDER, Circuit Judge.

This is an action for civil forfeiture of a tractor-trailer and $304,980 in cash that was found hidden in a secret compartment within it. The claimants, Randy and Delores Davis, moved in the district court to suppress the results of the search, arguing that it violated their Fourth Amendment rights because it was conducted without consent or probable cause. The district court denied the motion, finding that Randy Davis consented to the search of the truck. The Davises subsequently acknowledged that they had no other defense to the forfeiture; thus, they agreed to the entry of a stipulated forfeiture order subject to their right to appeal the denial of their motion to suppress, an appeal that is now before us. Because the district court did not clearly err in finding that Randy Davis consented to the search, we affirm.

I. Background

On August 26, 2011, at around 2:15 in the afternoon, Randy Davis was driving his Peterbilt tractor-trailer west bound on Interstate 70 through southern Illinois toward St. Louis, Missouri. At the time, Davis was running his own trucking company, and he shared ownership of the company's only truck with his wife, Delores Davis. Like many tractor-trailers, Davis's truck had a sleeping compartment with a recessed area in the floor designed to hold a mattress. But unlike most tractor-trailers, Davis's truck had a hinged piece of plywood installed over that recessed area, raising the mattress to floor level and creating a hidden compartment beneath it. And on this particular afternoon, Davis was hiding $304,980 in cash under his mattress.

Near mile marker twenty-four, Davis passed an un-marked police vehicle that was parked in the median of the interstate. Inside the vehicle were Kevin Thebeau and Derek Hoelscher, city police officers who had been assigned to a DEA drug interdiction task force. As part of their duties on the task force, Officers Thebeau and Hoelscher would make traffic stops in an effort to obtain probable cause or consent to search vehicles suspected of being used to transport drugs or drug money.

After Davis passed their vehicle, the officers pulled out into westbound traffic and followed. A few miles down the road, they observed Davis following too closely to the tractor-trailer in front of him, and they initiated a traffic stop. Davis took the exit at mile marker twenty-one and pulled over on the right side of the exit ramp.

After Davis pulled over, the officers got out of their vehicle and approached the cab of his truck from the passenger side. Officer Thebeau took the lead and spoke with Davis, telling him the reason for the stop and asking for his driver's license, logbook, and bill of lading. Davis provided his driver's license and logbook but explained that he did not have a bill of lading because he had just dropped off a load in Vandalia and was now empty. Thebeau advised Davis that the officers would issue a warning for the traffic violation. Then, the officers returned to their vehicle with the documentation Davis provided.

Back in their vehicle, the officers examined Davis's logbook and started to grow suspicious. They noticed that Davis had gone without work for much of July and August, and they wondered how a one-man operation could stay afloat during that time. They also noticed that Davis had expensive aftermarket parts on his truck, and they wondered how he could afford them given his intermittent work schedule. With their suspicion already aroused, the officers contacted the El Paso Intelligence Center and learned that Davis's truck was on a “watch” because it had been used in criminal activity in the past. Based on all of this information, the officers decided to seek Davis's consent to search the truck.

The officers again approached the truck's cab from the passenger side, and Officer Thebeau asked Davis to step outside. Davis complied and walked around the front of the truck to join the officers on the passenger side, using his remote to lock the truck on his way (out of habit). Thebeau asked Davis if he was carrying any drugs or large sums of money, and Davis responded that he was not. Thebeau then asked Davis if he would consent to a search of his truck, and Davis unequivocally gave his consent, saying something to the effect of “yes, go ahead.” ¹

After obtaining Davis's oral consent, Officer Thebeau handed Davis a written consent form and asked him to read it and sign it. Davis then attempted to open the passenger door for Thebeau but discovered that it was locked. In response, Thebeau either said he would walk around to the driver's side or began to walk around, at which point Davis used his remote to unlock the truck for him. Thebeau then entered the driver's door and began his search.

As Thebeau began searching, Davis began reading the consent form, which stated that he would consent to the search of his truck, “including luggage, containers, and contents of all. This includes the removal of any suspicious paneling or other vehicle components, and the least intrusive access to any constructed compartment used for the purposes of concealing contraband.”

Officer Hoelscher, who had remained outside, noticed that Davis appeared to be struggling with the form. So, Hoelscher asked him if he needed help understanding it. Davis did not answer, but he appeared to grow agitated, and he asked Hoelscher what the officers were looking for. Hoelscher responded that they were looking for drugs or large sums of money derived from drugs. At that point, Davis noticed Hoelscher's city police department badge, and he asked Hoelscher what the officers were doing out there. Hoelscher explained that they were part of a DEA task force; then he again asked Davis whether he needed any help understanding the form. However, Davis remained unresponsive. Hoelscher noted that he could stop the search and get a drug dog, but Davis still did not respond.

Wanting to be sure of Davis's consent, Hoelscher walked around to the driver's side of the truck and told Thebeau to stop the search because Davis would not sign the form. Thebeau then stuck his head out of the truck and asked Davis whether they still had his consent to search. In response, Davis grabbed the form from Hoelscher, wrote something on it, and gave it back. ² Hoelscher glanced at the form, saw what appeared to him to be a signature, and put it in his pocket.

Believing Davis had signed the form, Thebeau continued his search. Meanwhile, Davis and Hoelscher went back around to the passenger side of the truck and engaged in casual conversation. Davis appeared to relax, and he told Hoelscher that he assumed the officers knew he had been in trouble before. In fact, Hoelscher was unaware of any prior arrests, so he asked Davis to elaborate, at which point Davis volunteered that he had previously been arrested for possessing 200 pounds of marijuana.

Eventually, Thebeau noticed that Davis's mattress was sitting flush with the floor of the sleeping compartment, unlike the mattresses in trucks he had searched in the past. So, he decided to look under the mattress, at which point he saw the plywood lid that had been constructed over Davis's secret compartment. Thebeau then used a screwdriver to pry the lid up far enough to grip with his hand, opened the compartment, and found the cash.

After Thebeau's discovery, the officers took Davis into custody and seized the truck and the cash. A few days later, however, they examined the consent form more closely and discovered that rather than signing his name on the signature line, Davis had written the words “UNDER PROTEST,” in a somewhat elaborate script, along with his initials.

Although the officers obtained a positive reaction to the seized money from a drug dog, Davis was subsequently released. However, the government kept the truck and the cash and filed this action for civil forfeiture.

II. Standing

As an initial matter, the government argues that even if the district court erred in denying the Davises' motion to suppress, we should affirm because the Davises do not have Article III standing to contest the forfeiture. Although the government did not file a cross-appeal, we will consider its argument because “[t]he federal courts are under an independent obligation to examine their own jurisdiction, and standing ‘is perhaps the most important of [the jurisdictional] doctrines.’ ” ³FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas, 493 U.S. 215, 231, 110 S.Ct. 596, 107 L.Ed.2d 603 (1990) (quoting Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 750, 104 S.Ct. 3315, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984)) (second alteration in original). Moreover, we must address this issue first because without a case or controversy under Article III, we have no authority to proceed to the merits. Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env't, 523 U.S. 83, 94, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998).

The government argues that because the Davises have failed to prove their ownership of the seized cash, they do not have Article III standing. ⁴ However, to have standing, a claimant need not “establish that a right of his has been infringed; that would conflate the issue of standing with the merits of the suit.” Aurora Loan Servs., Inc. v. Craddieth, 442 F.3d 1018, 1024 (7th Cir.2006). Instead, “he must have a colorable claim to such a right.” Id. While it is true that the Davises have not proved their ownership of the cash (indeed, they invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to the government's...