Opinion ID: 2633086
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: forfeiture pursuant to title 63, subsection 2-503(a)(7)

Text: ¶ 8 A peace officer of this state may seize property subject-to forfeiture under the Act (1) when [t]he seizure is incident to an arrest or search warrant, (2) when [t]he property has been the subject of a prior judgment in favor of the state in an injunction or forfeiture proceeding under the Act, (3) when [p]robable cause exists to believe it presents a public health danger, or (4) when [p]robable cause exists to believe the property has been used, or will be used in violation of the Act. 63 O.S.2001, § 2-504. For forfeiture of property addressed in title 63, subsection 2-503(A)(7), the party seeking forfeiture must show by a preponderance of the evidence the applicable requirements for seizure. Id. at § 2-506(G). For title 63, subsection 2-503(A)(7), the party seeking forfeiture must produce evidence that the monies were found in close proximity to any amount of forfeitable substance, forfeitable paraphernalia, or forfeitable records. Once the party seeking forfeiture has met this burden of production, a rebuttable presumption arises that the monies are forfeitable under the Act. Id. at § 2-503(A)(7). ¶ 9 The discrepancies in subsection 2-503(A)(7)'s construction arise, at least in part, because it is unclear what makes the monies forfeitable under the Act. In construing a statutory enactment, the goal is to ascertain the Legislature's intent. In re Estate of Villines, 2005 OK 63, ¶ 9, 122 P.3d 466, 470. If the enactment is unambiguous, it is presumed that the Legislature intended what it expressed. Id. When an ambiguity exists, provisions of a legislative act will be construed together to result in a harmonious whole, id. at ¶ 9., and will be given a reasonable and sensible construction which will avoid absurd consequences. State ex rel. Dept. of Public Safety v. 1985 GMC Pickup, 1995 OK 75, ¶ 7, 898 P.2d 1280, 1282. Further, general words which are associated with specific words may be limited by the specific words when they are capable of an analogous meaning. Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Fortinberry Co., 1949 OK 75, ¶ 14, 207 P.2d 301, 305. ¶ 10 Title 63, subsection 2-503(A)(7) operates to create a presumption that monies found in close proximity to any amount of a forfeitable substance are forfeitable. Title 63, subsection 2-503(A)(1) makes a controlled dangerous substance and other items which are possessed in violation of the Act forfeitable. Under these two provisions, possession of any amount of a controlled dangerous substance in violation of the Act unambiguously gives rise to the presumption that the monies found in close proximity to it, in this case marihauna, are forfeitable. ¶ 11 We next turn to the evidentiary proof necessary to rebut the presumption and, if the presumption is rebutted, to support a forfeiture under subsection 2-503(A)(7). Forfeiture under title 63, subsections 2-503(A)(2)-(6), and (8)-(9) is based on manufacturing and distribution of controlled dangerous substances in violation of the Act. These subsections provide for the forfeiture of materials and equipment used to manufacture controlled dangerous substances, conveyances used to distribute them, records used to manufacture and distribute them, proceeds of their sale, and other property and weapons possessed or used to facilitate a violation of the Act. The focus of these subsections is on the forfeitability of instrumentalities of drug trafficking, [2] leading to the conclusion that the Legislature intended that subsections 2-503(A)(2)-(6) and (8)-(9) forfeiture provisions to be based on drug trafficking. ¶ 12 Extending this legislative intent to subsection 2-503(A)(7), evidence that monies found in close proximity to any amount of a controlled dangerous substances possessed in violation of the Act creates a pre-sumption that the monies are the proceeds from the distribution or manufacture of a controlled dangerous substance. Once the presumption arises, the person claiming the monies may rebut the presumption by showing that the forfeited currency bore no nexus to a violation of the Act, or, in other words, that there is a legal source of the currency. State v. One Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-seven Dollars ($1,267.00), 2006 OK 15, ¶ 30, 131 P.3d 116, 126. Once rebutted, the party seeking forfeiture must produce contrary evidence. See 63 O.S.Supp. 2004, § 2-506(G). ¶ 13 The next step in the resolution of the questions before us is to determine whether a subsection 2-503(A)(7) forfeiture is dependent on an in personam criminal charge or conviction for possession. Forfeiture proceedings under title 63, section 2-503 are in rem and civil in nature. State ex rel. Turpen v. A 1977 Chevrolet Pickup Truck, 1988 OK 38, ¶ 9, 753 P.2d 1356. Civil forfeiture is based on the legal fiction that the object is guilty of the crime. Austin v. United States, 509 U.S. 602, 615-616, 113 S.Ct. 2801, 125 L.Ed.2d 488 (1993) (quoting J.S. Goldsmith, Jr., Grant Co. v. United States, 254 U.S. 505, 511, 41 S.Ct. 189, 65 L.Ed. 376 (1921)). Under the common law, in rem civil forfeiture is independent of, and wholly unaffected by any criminal proceeding in personam. In re The Palmyra, 25 U.S. (12 Wheat.) 1, 15, 6 L.Ed. 531 (1827). Thus, the common law does not require section 2-503 forfeitures to be based on a criminal charge, such as possession with intent to distribute, or on a criminal conviction. ¶ 14 Likewise, there is nothing in the Act which makes a subsection 2-503(A)(7)'s forfeiture dependent on an in personam criminal charge or conviction. Subsection 2-503(A)(7)'s presumption of forfeitability arises when monies are found in close proximity to any amount of a controlled dangerous substance or other forfeitable items. As the district attorney contends, there is no common-law or statutory rule which limits his discretion to seek forfeiture of an item based on its nexus to drug trafficking while only seeking to prosecute in personam for simple possession. In fact, he need not file any charges before seeking forfeiture under subsection 2-503(A)(7). ¶ 15 This construction is in keeping with our decisions in 1985 GMC Pickup, 1995 OK 75, 898 P.2d 1280, and in One Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-Seven Dollars, 2006 OK 15, 131 P.3d 116. In 1985 GMC Pickup, after the owner/ occupant of the pickup was convicted of possession of marihuana, the Department of Public Safety sought forfeiture of the pickup. The notice of seizure and forfeiture stated the grounds for forfeiture to be the owner's use of the vehicle while possessing and transporting marihuana under title 63, subsections 2-503(A)(1) and (4). This Court found that simple possession was an insufficient basis for forfeiture under subsection 2-503(A)(4). 1985 GMC Pickup did not require an in personam charge or conviction of possession with intent to distribute but did require evidentiary proof which would support more than simple possession in violation of the Act be produced in the forfeiture proceedings. ¶ 16 In One Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-Seven Dollars, 2006 OK 15, 131 P.3d 116, the State sought the forfeiture of currency based on three grounds, one of which was the close proximity of the currency to forfeitable substances, to forfeitable drug manufacturing or distribution paraphernalia or to forfeitable records of the importation, manufacture, or distribution of forfeitable substances. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment. The State submitted evidentiary material in the form of a police officer's affidavit that he found baggies containing tan rocks which he suspected of being cocaine and $1,267.00 in cash on the claimant's person when he was arrested and that an analysis of the rocks showed they were 31.85 grams of crack cocaine, more than enough to support a charge of possession with intent to distribute. This Court determined that the State's evidentiary material was sufficient to shift the burden of proof to the claimant. Because the claimant failed to counter the State's evidentiary materials, the trial court had correctly entered judgment for the State. The Court did not require an in personam criminal charge or conviction against the claimant.