Opinion ID: 788029
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Government's Article III Standing And District Court's Jurisdiction

Text: 25 Prior to the enactment of the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA), the burden of proof in civil forfeiture actions tilted heavily in the government's favor. United States v. $80,180 in U.S. Currency, 303 F.3d 1182, 1184 (9th Cir.2002). The government had the initial burden of establishing that probable cause existed to institute a forfeiture proceeding. Id. Once probable cause was established, the claimant could avoid forfeiture only by establishing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the property was not subject to forfeiture. Id. CAFRA transferred the burden of proof from the claimant to the government and required the government to establish forfeiture by a preponderance of the evidence rather than by the lower probable cause standard. Id.; see also 18 U.S.C. § 983(c)(1). 26 The Markarians make the novel argument that the government must meet this burden of proof in order to establish Article III standing to go forward with a civil forfeiture action. They contend that because the government did not first prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant property was subject to forfeiture, the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to proceed with the action or enter a judgment therein. 27 The Markarians once again are conflating two separate inquiries: (1) whether the government had standing to commence and maintain a civil forfeiture action in the district court and (2) whether the government presented sufficient evidence to prevail on the merits. There can be no real dispute that the government had standing to commence the instant action. The complaint alleged that the defendant property was acquired with funds traceable to a federal health care offense — allegations that, if proved, would render the property subject to forfeiture pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(a)(1)(c) and 1956(c)(7)(F). While the Markarians assert that the complaint was not supported at the time of filing by evidence sufficient to meet the preponderance standard, the government is not required to prove its case simply to get in the courthouse door. It is true that CAFRA imposes upon the government the ultimate burden of establishing forfeiture by a preponderance of the evidence, but the statute also provides expressly that the government may use evidence gathered after the filing of a forfeiture complaint to meet this burden. See 18 U.S.C. § 983(c)(2). This provision would be meaningless if the government were required to meet the preponderance standard merely to commence an action. 28 The substantive merits of the government's forfeiture action — whatever they may be — cannot be raised by the Markarians in the context of the present appeal. Because the district court properly determined on the record before it that the Markarians lacked a sufficient interest in the defendant property to confer Article III standing, the Markarians had no legal basis upon which to object to the forfeiture. See United States v. Real Property, 135 F.3d 1312, 1317-18 (9th Cir.1998) (holding that an individual who lacked standing to contest forfeiture of property could not seek relief from default judgment); United States v. Fifteen Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($15,500) U.S. Currency, 558 F.2d 1359, 1361 (9th Cir.1977) (holding that when a claimant fails to establish the threshold requirement of standing, the claimant's challenges to the merits of the forfeiture action cannot be reached). 29 Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.