Opinion ID: 2582220
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: district court's memorandum decision

Text: The district court held a hearing on BIDS's claim. In a well-reasoned opinion, Shawnee County District Judge Nancy E. Parrish granted the State's motion to strike. In its memorandum decision, the district court agreed with the State's contention that BIDS lacked standing to file a claim in the forfeiture action. The court first considered whether BIDS had an interest in the entire amount of $895, not merely the $50 initially ordered payable to BIDS by the court. The district court observed that criminal charges were filed against Wright on March 22, 2004, in case No. 04CR480, but as of the date of the memorandum decision, Wright's case had not yet gone to trial. The court pointed out that if Wright were acquitted or if his case were dismissed, any application fee paid would be remitted to him. Only if Wright were convicted would he be ordered to pay reimbursement to BIDS for his defense. Thus, the district court found that BIDS obtained no interest beyond $50, contingent upon Wright's criminal conviction. The district court further rejected BIDS's contention that the $895 in seized funds was exempt from forfeiture under K.S.A. 60-4106(a) and, therefore, should be held as security for the reimbursement of BIDS's fees. The court found that, for the exemption to apply, the party asserting the exemption must first be an owner of or an interest holder in the property. See K.S.A. 60-4111(a). The court concluded that BIDS did not meet the requirements of K.S.A. 60-4111(a). With regard to the relationship between BIDS and Wright, the district court stated that, because BIDS was entitled to receive $50 from Wright upon Wright's criminal conviction in case No. 04CR480, a debtor/creditor relationship arguably existed. Regardless, the court determined that BIDS was not an interest holder as defined under K.S.A. 60-4102(e). The district court rejected BIDS's assertion that it was a judgment creditor/lienholder in the amount of $2,000, finding BIDS's assertion problematic on two grounds. First, there was no court order directing that $2,000 be paid to BIDS. Thus, at the time of the seizure of Wright's property, he did not owe this amount to BIDS. Second, BIDS's claim against Wright for attorney fees in the amount of $50 was not secured by a lien on Wright's property, so BIDS could not be characterized as a lien creditor. See K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 84-9-102(a)(52)(A) (defining lien creditor as a creditor that has acquired a lien on the property involved by attachment, levy, or the like). In addition, the district court found that BIDS was not a judgment creditor because the court's order to pay $50 to BIDS did not confer on BIDS the right to enforce immediate execution of the order to recover that amount, nor was the order a judgment for damages against Wright. See Black's Law Dictionary 861 (8th ed. 2004) (defining judgment creditor as [a] person having a legal right to enforce execution of a judgment for a specific sum of money and defining money judgment as [a] judgment for damages subject to immediate execution, as distinguished from equitable or injunctive relief). Finally, the district court found it troublesome that BIDS did not have an interest in the particular currency seized from Wright, which the court found was a requirement of K.S.A. 60-4111(a). The court observed that BIDS did not allege in its affidavit of claimant that the court ordered the $50 in attorney fees to be paid directly from the seized funds; instead, BIDS merely claimed that the court initially ordered attorney fees of $50. Therefore, the district court determined that nothing connected the award of attorney fees to the seized property. The court concluded that BIDS's right to $50 from Wright could be characterized as a general right, which did not entitle it to receive payment from any particular asset of Wright's property. Consequently, the district court held that BIDS lacked standing to file a claim against the forfeiture of the seized funds.