Opinion ID: 785776
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Forfeiture Exception

Text: 67 Citing United States v. Zaicek, 519 F.2d 412 (2d Cir.1975), and Florida v. White, 526 U.S. 559, 119 S.Ct. 1555, 143 L.Ed.2d 748 (1999), the district court further upheld the warrantless search of Gaskin's automobile on the ground that probable cause supported the vehicle's forfeiture pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881(a). We agree. 68 In Zaicek, this court held that when a car is properly seized by the police pursuant to a forfeiture statute, the government has a greater possessory interest in the car than the owner, permitting law enforcement officers to search the seized vehicle without a warrant. 519 F.2d at 414. Thereafter, in United States v. Lasanta, 978 F.2d 1300, 1306 (2d Cir.1992), we indicated that a warrant was necessary to effect a proper civil forfeiture seizure, but in Florida v. White, 526 U.S. at 561, 119 S.Ct. 1555, the Supreme Court specifically rejected Lasanta, at least as it pertains to motor vehicles seized in public places. The Court ruled that law enforcement officers may seize forfeitable vehicles from public places without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe that the vehicle is, in fact, subject to forfeiture. See id. Thus, as the district court correctly observed, Florida v. White and Zaicek, read together, establish that law enforcement officers who have probable cause to believe an automobile is subject to forfeiture may both seize the vehicle from a public place and search it without a warrant. 69 Gaskin submits that warrantless forfeiture searches should be limited to car seizures based on probable cause to believe the vehicle was used to transport or conceal drugs, not cases, such as this one, where the vehicle was used only to transport a drug dealer to a drug transaction. He offers no legal or logical support for drawing the distinction urged, and we find none in the relevant statutes and case law. 70 Certainly Zaicek does not support Gaskin's argument. There, the court acknowledged as well settled that a vehicle seized on the grounds that it was used to transport contraband could be searched without a warrant. 519 F.2d at 414. But Zaicek expressly declined to limit warrantless searches to such circumstances. Indeed, the car at issue in Zaicek was seized not because it had transported contraband, but because it had been reported stolen. See id. (citing N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law § 424(3) (McKinney 1970) (permitting police to seize stolen motor vehicles)). This court ruled that once property is properly seized by the police pursuant to a statute, such stolen or forfeitable property can be searched by them without a warrant. Id. at 415. 71 Section 881(a) and (b) of Title 21 provides the statutory authority for the seizure of Gaskin's car. 7 Subsection (b) authorizes the warrantless seizure incident to an arrest of [a]ny property subject to civil forfeiture. 21 U.S.C. § 881(b) (1999). Subsection (a) defines the property subject to civil forfeiture: 72 The following shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States and no property right shall exist in them: ... All... vehicles, ... which are used, or are intended for use, to transport, or in any manner to facilitate the transportation, sale, receipt, possession, or concealment of [a controlled substance]. 73 Id. § 881(a). 74 Construing subsection (a) in United States v. One 1974 Cadillac Eldorado Sedan, 548 F.2d 421, 426 (2d Cir.1977), this court specifically refused to limit its reach to vehicles used to transport or conceal drugs. We ruled that the statute contemplates forfeiture if the vehicle in any manner facilitates the sale of a controlled drug. Id. at 427. The Cadillac at issue in that case had been used by two drug dealers to drive from a location in the Bronx to an apartment building in Manhattan where they met a prospective buyer and discussed a cocaine sale that took place sometime thereafter. Ruling that conveyance of [the drug traffickers] in the Cadillac to and from the June 7 meeting did facilitate the sale of the drug, this court ordered the car forfeited to the United States. Id. 75 Gaskin's use of his automobile on June 17, 1999, was certainly as important to the facilitation of his drug dealing as the vehicle use detailed in One 1974 Cadillac Eldorado Sedan. Gaskin drove to a meeting with a drug courier not simply to negotiate future transports of marijuana but to take delivery of a load of marijuana concealed in a motor home. That the agents had probable cause to believe that this was Gaskin's purpose and to arrest him for drug trafficking is indisputable. Thus, pursuant to § 881(a) and (b), agents were lawfully entitled to seize the car that he had used to facilitate this transaction and, thereafter, to search it. 76 Accordingly, we affirm the district court's decision denying Gaskin's motion to suppress incriminating evidence found in the course of these searches.