United States v. One 1950 Buick Sedan, 50 of 1953.

• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Writing for the Court: Samuel Kagle, Philadelphia, Pa., for claimants
• Citation: United States v. One 1950 Buick Sedan, 130 F.Supp. 409 (E.D. Pa. 1955)
• Decision Date: 26 April 1955
• Docket Number: No. 50 of 1953.,50 of 1953.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. ONE 1950 BUICK SEDAN Serial No. 56272505, Motor No. 64643675, Registered to Rosetta Brown and Juanita Young, and lately possessed by Thomas Gaskins.

130 F. Supp. 409

UNITED STATES of America v. ONE 1950 BUICK SEDAN Serial No. 56272505, Motor No. 64643675, Registered to Rosetta Brown and Juanita Young, and lately possessed by Thomas Gaskins.

No. 50 of 1953.

United States District Court E. D. Pennsylvania.

April 26, 1955.

W. Wilson White, U. S. Atty., Eugene J. Bradley, Asst. U. S. Atty., Philadelphia, Pa., for libellant.

Samuel Kagle, Philadelphia, Pa., for claimants.

CLARY, District Judge.

This is a case in which the United States of America instituted proceedings for the forfeiture of one 1950 Buick Sedan automobile, Serial No. 56272505, Motor No. 64643675, alleged to have been used in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 781. The automobile owned by the claimants, Rosetta Brown and Juanita Young, was alleged to have been used by one Thomas Gaskins on April 6, 1952 to facilitate the purchase and sale of a narcotic drug, to wit: heroin. The automobile was seized by the Government from the possession of the claimants on March 18, 1953, almost one year later. Admittedly, neither claimant was involved in the offense charged. The testimony in the case which was heard by the Court, without a jury, on February 21, 1955, establishes the following:

Rudolph P. Crouch, a Federal Narcotics Agent, together with a special employee of the Narcotics Bureau, presumably an undercover informant, were standing on the street corner at the intersection of 19th and South Streets, in the City of Philadelphia, at about 2 o'clock P.M. on April 6, 1952. One Thomas Gaskins, driving the automobile in question, arrived at the intersection and stopped for a traffic light. The special employee called to Gaskins, who drove the automobile to the curb and parked it. Agent Crouch and the special employee then entered the car and engaged in conversation with Gaskins. The special employee introduced Crouch to Gaskins. Crouch then asked Gaskins whether he could supply him with one-sixteenth of an ounce of heroin. Gaskins, admittedly a narcotics dealer, agreed to supply the requested drug and demanded payment of $20 in advance as its purchase price. Gaskins further told Crouch that he, Gaskins, would have to go and get the heroin and instructed Crouch to meet him in fifteen or twenty minutes in a tavern a few blocks distant, located at the corner of 17th and Kater Streets in the City of Philadelphia. Gaskins then drove off in the car. Crouch and the special employee walked to the tavern and, some twenty minutes later, were joined by Gaskins inside the tavern. Gaskins handed Agent Crouch a package containing the heroin, which package bore no Internal Revenue stamps. Neither did Crouch furnish Gaskins with the Treasury Order Form required in a drug transaction. Gaskins demanded from Crouch $3 additional for transportation charges, which Crouch paid to him. The three then left the tavern. Gaskins entered the automobile in question, then parked at the corner, and drove off. Agent Crouch and the special employee left the scene and returned to the office of the Narcotic Bureau. The record is silent as to whether or not the Buick automobile was parked near the tavern when the two employees of the Narcotic Bureau entered it.

The claimants herein, Rosetta Brown and Juanita Young, have been engaged in the restaurant business at either 1715 or 1725 South Street in the City of Philadelphia since 1942. Gaskins, a roomer in the building, on occasions and at their request, drove the automobile to market to pick up groceries and other commodities needed in the restaurant business. At no time was he ever given free use of the automobile. His use of the automobile at the direction of the claimants was only on specific occasions and for limited purposes. He did, however, on a number of occasions, use the car without their consent or permission and on other occasions, when sent on an errand, delayed his return for an undue length of time. Because of this improper use of the automobile, when one of the claimants obtained her driver's license in October of 1952, claimants denied Gaskins further use of the automobile. The testimony of the claimants indicates and the Court believes that while Gaskins was active in the narcotic traffic, neither of the claimants knew that he was either a drug addict or a drug peddler. There is no evidence from which the Court could find that the claimants knew or, as reasonable persons, should have known that when they directed Gaskins to use their automobile, it would be subjected to unlawful use. Although the evidence disclosed that the Narcotic Agents were suspicious and felt that the claimants might know something of the drug traffic, no substantive evidence was introduced which would in any way link either of the claimants with the drug traffic or any knowledge of it. Both claimants appeared in Court and testified and the Court was in a position to appraise their attitude and demeanor. Both frankly admitted that at the time the automobile was seized on March 18, 1953 they did not know, and they do not know now, whether or not Gaskins had permission to use the car on April 6, 1952, or whether or not they had sent him to the market to do shopping for them on that day. The Court feels that these answers were entirely truthful. Obviously, it would be impossible at such a late date, almost a full year later, to pinpoint activities in connection with the operation of an automobile at a date so far...