Opinion ID: 779364
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Probable Validity of Continued Deprivation of Vehicles

Text: 19 Plaintiffs in this action essentially seek an early opportunity to test the City's likelihood of success on the merits of the forfeiture action, or what the Supreme Court has termed the probable validity of continued deprivation of a claimant's property during the pendency of legal proceedings. Cf. Comm'r v. Shapiro, 424 U.S. 614, 629, 96 S.Ct. 1062, 47 L.Ed.2d 278 (1976) ([A]t least where irreparable injury may result from a deprivation of property pending final adjudication of the rights of the parties, the Due Process Clause requires that the party whose property is taken be given an opportunity for some kind of predeprivation or prompt post-deprivation hearing at which some showing of the probable validity of the deprivation must be made.); Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 97, 92 S.Ct. 1983, 32 L.Ed.2d 556 (1972) (Since the essential reason for the requirement of a prior hearing is to prevent unfair and mistaken deprivations of property, ... it is axiomatic that the hearing must provide a real test. `(D)ue process is afforded only by the kinds of notice and hearing that are aimed at establishing the validity, or at least the probable validity, of the underlying claim against the alleged debtor before he can be deprived of his property.') (quoting Sniadach v. Family Fin. Corp., 395 U.S. 337, 343, 89 S.Ct. 1820, 23 L.Ed.2d 349 (1969) (Harlan, J., concurring)). 20 For present purposes, we treat probable validity as a comprehensive due process concept that includes the City's probable cause for initially seizing vehicles. Clearly, the legality of a warrantless seizure is a component of the larger question of the probable validity of continued retention of a seized vehicle. If a seizure lacked probable cause, and the City could offer no untainted post-seizure evidence to justify further retention, the claimant's vehicle would ordinarily have to be released during the pendency of proceedings. Cf. Marine Midland Bank, N.A. v. United States, 11 F.3d 1119, 1125 (2d Cir.1993) ([C]ourts in this circuit have ordered the return of seized property before the commencement of a [federal] forfeiture trial on the ground that the government lacked probable cause to seize the property at the time of the seizure.). 21 Although there is an obvious overlap between probable cause for a seizure and the probable validity of a retention, the two are not necessarily coextensive. For example, at a retention hearing, the City might succeed in showing that police officers had probable cause for seizing the vehicle of a DWI arrestee, yet be unable to establish the probable validity of continued deprivation pendente lite in the face of proof of innocent ownership or evidence that the Breathalyzer test had registered inaccurate results. Similarly, the City might establish probable cause for a seizure but fail to persuade the court that its interest in the accused instrumentality would not be protected by measures less drastic than continued deprivation. Conversely, the City might fail to establish probable cause for an initial seizure yet be able to offer post-seizure evidence showing the probable validity of retention during the pendency of proceedings. Thus, the legality of a seizure typically will be a subset of the larger due process question of the legitimacy of continued impoundment pendente lite. 22