Opinion ID: 6982208
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Excessive penalty, failure to stay forfeiture proceeding, and grant of summary judgment

Text: We dispose expeditiously of the arguments that forfeiture of the defendant property violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against excessiveness and dis-proportionality, and that the district court erred in failing to grant a stay of the forfeiture proceedings while criminal charges were pending against O’Brien. Because only Winterhaven Trust raised these arguments and has now been dismissed from the appeal, these two issues are eliminated from our consideration. In addition, only the Trust, and not O’Brien, appeals the district court’s finding of probable cause for forfeiture and its grant of summary judgment on the forfeiture to the government. 2 Dismissal of the Trust from this appeal therefore also eliminates these issues from our consideration. The only remaining issues are the propriety of the ex paite seizure and the appropriate remedy for any impairment of claimant O’Brien’s rights.