NOT RECOMMENDED F OR F ULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Na me: 13a0121n.06 No. 12-3276 UNITED STAT ES COURT OF AP P EALS F OR THE S IXTH CIRCUIT UNI TED STATES OF AMERI CA, Plaintiff-Appellee ,

v. $677,660.00 I

N U.S. CURRENCY, Def endant, KHAL I L AH CRUMPL ER, Claimant-Appellant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ON APPEALFROM THE UNI TED STATES DI STRI CT COURT FOR THE N ORTHERN DI STRI CT OF OH I O

BEF ORE: WHI TE and DO NAL D, Circuit J udg es; VARL AN, Chief District Judge

. *

PER CURI AM . Khalilah Cr umpler, an Ohio resident, appea ls a district court order forf eiting $677,660 to the fede ral g overnme nt. We AF F IRM. The g overn m ent filed this forf eiture action ag ainst curr ency discovere d in a car driven by Crumpler when she was arr ested. T h e car was towed and inventoried. Crumpler filed a verifie d claim to the curr ency , asser tin g she was part owner and bailee of the money (R.E. 8). The
g overnme nt moved to strike Crumpler’s claim. After holding a hear ing, the district court found, in pertinent part, that Crumpler di d not have standing, a s she did not own the ca r, and tha t she failed
to establish a cre dible leg al interest in the curr ency (R.E. 37). The court there fore order ed forf eiture

The Honora

ble Thom a s A

. V a

r la n , Ch ie f U nited States District J udg e for the Easter n District * of Tenne ssee, sitting by

desig nation.No. 12-3276

United States v. $677,660.00 in U.S. Currency (R.E. 39). On appea l, Crumpler arg ues that the district c ourt lacke d jurisdiction a s to the curr ency beca use it purpo rt ed ly was under the jurisdiction of the state of Ohio; the sear ch of the car was unconstitutional; post-arr est statements she made about the money should have been excluded; the
money was not shown to be the proce eds of drug transac tions; she h ad s t an ding to challeng e the forf eiture beca

use she rec eived the money as a gi ft from a man she was seeing ; and forf eiture violates the Tenth a

nd Fifth Ame ndments.
We revie w de novo the district court’s deter mination of a claimant’s standing to contest a forf eiture action insofar as it prese nts a leg al question but revie w only for clea r err or the district court’s f actua l findings. United States v. Salti , 579 F.3d 656, 667 (6th Cir. 2009) . “Standing is . .

. a leg al question to be deter mined by the court, not a jury .” United States v. $557,933.89 , More or Less, in U.S. Funds , 287 F.3d 66, 78 (2d Cir. 2002). “I n order to contest a g overnme ntal forf eiture action, [t he] claimant[] must hav e s t at u t ory standing throug h compliance with [t he Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Maritime Cla i m s an d As set For feiture Actions], as well as the Article I I I standing require d for any action b ro u gh t i n fede ral court.” United States v. $515,060.42 in U.S. Currency , 152 F.3d 491, 497 (6th Cir. 1998); see 18 U.S.C. § 983(a) (4)( A). “With respe ct to Article
I I I standing , . . . a cl ai m an t m u s t have a colora ble owner ship, possessory or secur ity interest in at least a portion of the defe ndant proper ty .” $5 1 5 , 0 6 0

. 4 2 i n U.S. Currency , 152 F.3d at 497. “Howe ver, due to conce rns about ‘straw man’ transfe rs” from criminals to third parties who lack any leg al i ntere st, “‘na

ked possession’ claims are insufficient to establish standing

. When confr onted with mere phy sical possession of prope rty as a ba sis for s tanding , we require some explanation or contextual i n fo rm ation reg arding the claimant’s rela tionship to the seized proper ty .” Id. at 498.

-2-No. 12-3276

United States v. $677,660.00 in U.S. Currency Thus, “[t] o contest a forf

eiture action, an individual customarily bear s the burden of demonstrating an intere st in the seized item sufficient to satisfy the cour t of [her] st anding as a c laimant.” Id. Here, t h e district court was prese nted wit h contra dictory evidenc e bearing on the questi on of whether Crumpler had an interest in the defe ndant curr ency and proper ly held a hear ing to resolve

cre dibilit y i s s u es . S

ee United States v. 1998 BMW “I” Convertible Vin No. W BABJ8324W

EM 20855 , 235 F.3d 397, 400 (8th Cir. 2000) (holding that if there are disputed fac tual issues and witness cre dibilit y deter

minations to be resolved with respe ct to standing, t h e d i s trict court must conduct an evidentiar

y hear ing (collec ting ca ses)). The district court deter mined that Crumpler’s claim to an interest in the curr ency was not cre dible. Crumpler initially denied any knowledg e that the money was prese nt in the car and denied owning it (R.E. 28, p. 3; R.E. 23, ex. 4, p. 14; R.E. 32,
p. 51), but she t es t i fi ed at the di strict-cour t hear ing that she was meeting a friend t o g ive hi m the 1
money when she was arr ested (R.E. 32, p. 70). On other occa sions, she claimed only to be the bailee of the money (R.E. 19, ex. B)

. On still other occa sions, she claimed to own part of the money (R.E. 8, p.1; R.E. 23, ex. 3; R.E. 32, p. 81) and that all of the money was g iven to her by an undocumented alien she cannot contac t ( R.E. 23, ex. 3). Crumpler’s c onstantly chang ing storie s and her inability
to verify any interest in the money justified the district court’s finding that Crumpler had no cre dible leg al intere st in the curre ncy . Her asser tion in her reply brief that standing is satisfied throug h her testimony that the money was found in the car she was driving is mistaken. See $515,060.42 in U.S. Currency , 152 F.3d at 497–98. Be cause Crumpler l acks Article I I I sta n d i n g , we cannot reach her

To the extent Crumpler contends that the district court should have excluded her post-arr est 1 statements deny ing any knowledg e of the money or interest in it, the arg ument is irrele vant beca use she re peate d that same a ssertion in her state -cour t testimony

. -3-No. 12-3276

United States v. $677,660.00 in U.S. Currency ch al l eng es to the g overnme nt’s forf eiture action and need not addre ss whether she had statutory standing

. For all of the a

bove re asons, the district cour t’s order of for feiture is AF F IRMED

.

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