Opinion ID: 1096505
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: resolution of the cases at hand under the state drug forfeiture act as constrained by the federal double jeopardy precepts of halper, austin, and kurth ranch

Text: Under the Drug Forfeiture Act, LSA-R.S. 40:2601 et seq., among the property subject to seizure is property that is furnished or intended to be furnished in exchange for such illegal drugs, LSA-R.S. 40:2604(2)(a); used or intended to be used to facilitate conduct giving rise to forfeiture, LSA-R.S. 40:2604(2)(b); and proceeds of any conduct giving rise to forfeiture, LSA-R.S. 40:2604(3). Applying the federal precepts to the Drug Forfeiture Act, we conclude that a civil forfeiture of a person's property may constitute punishment for the purposes of federal double jeopardy analysis, if (1) the sanction imposed is overwhelmingly disproportionate to the damages the offender has caused and (2) the sanction bears no rational relation to the goal of compensating the government for the costs it has incurred in investigating and prosecuting the violation. However, to the extent that a civil sanction is fairly characterized as rough remedial justice, i.e. to the extent that a remedial purpose is served, the civil sanction does not constitute punishment within the meaning of the double jeopardy clause, unless the sanction is in effect so disproportionate to the government's losses that it can be explained only as serving deterrent or retributive purposes. Applying this test to the facts of the cases at hand reveals that neither of the forfeitures violates double jeopardy protections. These cases do not present that rare case where the penalty provision subjects the offender to a sanction overwhelmingly disproportionate to the damages he has caused. With regard to Johnson, he forfeited the $976.00 in currency discovered on his person and in his home after he was arrested for possession of cocaine following a police undercover investigation into drug trafficking. The forfeiture of this amount under the facts and circumstances of this case does not qualify as overwhelmingly disproportionate to the damages caused by such drug trafficking. Similarly, the costs of the police investigation leading to Johnson's forfeiture of $976.00 bear a rational relation to the goal of compensating the government for costs incurred in investigating and prosecuting Johnson. Wilson forfeited a 12-year-old car used to transport cocaine. The evidence presented at the hearing revealed that Wilson acquired the automobile in 1988 for $2,800.00. The evidence showed that the towing and storage fees of such vehicle from the date the items were seized until the date of forfeiture totaled $2,504.50. We cannot say that the forfeiture of this antiquated vehicle under the facts presented herein was an overwhelmingly disproportionate civil penalty divorced from any proper remedial purpose so as to offend the Fifth Amendment or that its forfeiture lacked a rational relation to the goal of compensating the government (for the costs and risks incurred by pursuit of the offender and the processing and prosecution of his case). Therefore, we find that, under the facts and circumstances of the two cases under consideration, the Drug Forfeiture Act does not violate constitutional double jeopardy prohibitions as set out in Halper and its progeny and endorsed by this court in Butler. In State v. Lester Johnson, No. 94-KK-0595, the judgment of the court of appeal is affirmed. In State v. 1979 Cadillac Deville, No. 94-C-1077, the court of appeal judgment is vacated, and the district court judgment is reinstated. Proper application of the Seizure and Controlled Dangerous Substances Property Forfeiture Act of 1989, LSA-R.S. 40:2601 et seq., does not violate the double jeopardy provisions of the Fifth Amendment or LSA-Const. art. 1 § 15. United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 109 S.Ct. 1892, 104 L.Ed.2d 487 (1989); Butler v. Department of Public Safety and Corrections, 609 So.2d 790 (La.1992). IT IS SO ORDERED.