Opinion ID: 1270103
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Were appellant's due process rights violated by the issuance of destruction orders without a hearing?

Text: Appellant argues that its rights to due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, section 3 of the South Carolina Constitution were violated because it was deprived of its property without a hearing. We disagree. Appellant's machines were seized pursuant to § 12-21-2712 of the South Carolina Code which mandates: Any vending or slot machine, punch board, or other device pertaining to games of chance prohibited by § 12-21-2710 must be seized by any officer of the law and at once taken before any magistrate of the county in which the machine, board, or device is seized who shall immediately examine it, and if he is satisfied that it is in violation of § 12-21-2710 or any other law of this State he shall direct that it be immediately destroyed. S.C.Code Ann. § 12-21-2712 (Supp.1998). A possible constitutional construction of a statute must prevail over an unconstitutional interpretation. Henderson v. Evans, 268 S.C. 127, 132, 232 S.E.2d 331 (1977). We conclude the magistrate's examination of the seized machines under § 12-21-2712 must include an opportunity for the owner of the machines to be heard concerning their legality. We overrule State v. Kizer, 164 S.C. 383, 162 S.E. 444 (1932), to the extent it permits the destruction of allegedly illegal property without any opportunity for the owner to contest the magistrate's determination of illegality. We find no due process violation in this case, however, because appellant has had the opportunity to be fully heard by both the circuit court and this Court. Moreover, appellant conceded the illegality of the machines in an affidavit, so it could not thereafter contest the magistrate's determination of illegality. Appellant argues its due process rights were violated because it did not receive a pre- seizure hearing. We disagree. The statute does not direct a pre-seizure hearing, nor is one required in a civil forfeiture case. The most due process requires is a post-seizure opportunity for an innocent owner to come forward and show, if he can, why the res should not be forfeited and disposed of as provided for by law. Moore v. Timmerman, 276 S.C. 104, 109, 276 S.E.2d 290, 293 (1981). In Myers v. Real Property at 1518 Holmes Street, 306 S.C. 232, 411 S.E.2d 209 (1991), a case involving the forfeiture of real property used in the sale of illegal drugs, this Court held that a post-seizure hearing satisfies the requirements of due process in a civil forfeiture case. We quoted with approval Allen v. Tucker, 715 F.Supp. 266, 268 (E.D.Mo.1989), where it was held: A claimant's contention that his procedural due process rights have been violated without a hearing prior to the taking of his property is untenable when the claimant is afforded the full weight of judicial process in proceedings, such as these presently before the Court, to determine if the claimant's property was properly forfeited. Id. at 236, 411 S.E.2d 209. See also Calero-Toledo v. Pearson Yacht Leasing Co., 416 U.S. 663, 680, 94 S.Ct. 2080, 40 L.Ed.2d 452 (1974) (recognizing that seizure for the purpose of forfeiture presents an `extraordinary' situation in which postponement of notice and hearing until after seizure [does] not deny due process). Appellant's post-seizure opportunity to be heard fully satisfied the requirements of due process.