Opinion ID: 685598
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 6109 Grubb Road Problem

Text: 65 A straightforward application of 6109 Grubb Road to the facts of this case suggests that on remand, Goodman could show that he did not consent to the improper use of the Rolls Royce by proving that he did not own the car at the time that it was used to facilitate drug transactions, that he was not in a position to prevent such a use of the car, and that he did not know that the car was being used for such a purpose at the time it was so used or, if he knew, that he took all reasonable steps to prevent such use. If Goodman did not know that the Rolls Royce was going to be used in the DiSalvo or Ianarella meetings, he simply could not have consented to such a use. As a result, even if Goodman actually knew about or was willfully blind to the car's past improper use at the time he obtained ownership of it, he could not have consented to such improper use, and hence would be an innocent owner. Because we do not see how a person can consent to a particular use of property if he or she did not know that the property would be so used at or before the time of the use, the 6109 Grubb Road approach means that a subsequent owner who did not know about the act creating the taint on the property at or before it was committed would always be an innocent owner under the statute--even if he or she knew about the act creating the taint at the time he or she received the property. 66 The result we reach by applying 6109 Grubb Road raises the question whether that case was properly decided as an original matter. We, of course, cannot avoid the holding of that opinion, see Third Circuit Internal Operating Procedures 9.1, but the result 6109 Grubb Road created here seems at first blush sufficiently counterintuitive that the case needs more explaining. As we describe below, although the rationale given in 6109 Grubb Road is not free from doubt, the result is quite sensible as a matter of policy. Indeed, as we also detail below, the puzzling result cannot be laid at the feet of the 6109 Grubb Road panel. Rather, in our view, the cause is the nearly impenetrable language of the statute and an intervening Supreme Court decision, 92 Buena Vista, the importance of which the 6109 Grubb Road panel would not have anticipated. 67 We begin by noting that the rationale provided in 6109 Grubb Road is vulnerable. 18 The argument that the existence of the word or between the words knowledge and consent requires a disjunctive reading of the conditions that an owner needs to establish to show innocent owner status, arguably overlooked the importance of context in determining whether the conditions should be treated as disjunctive or conjunctive. Whether requirements in a statute are to be treated as disjunctive or conjunctive does not always turn on whether the word or is used; rather it turns on context. For example, if a statute provides that no cars or motorcycles are allowed in the park, a person trying to keep a vehicle out of the park need only show that the vehicle is either a car or a motorcycle. From that perspective the statute is disjunctive. On the other hand, a person trying to bring a vehicle into the park must show both that it is not a car and that it is not a motorcycle. From that perspective, the statute is conjunctive. Depending on the relevant context, a disjunctive test can always be reformulated as a conjunctive one. 19 68 To be fair to the 6109 Grubb Road panel, part of the problem in both 6109 Grubb Road and in this case stems from the language of the statute itself. Filled with negatives, its language is nearly impenetrable. The difficulty with the 6109 Grubb Road linguistic interpretation is demonstrated by removing two of the negatives (which should not change the meaning of the statute) and the burden of proof language (which merely indicates who has to satisfy the requirements of the statute without indicating what the party with the burden must show): 69 [ ] property shall be forfeited under [Sec. 881(a)(7) ] to the extent of an interest of an owner, by reason of any act or omission ... committed or omitted with[ ] the knowledge or consent of the owner. 70 Parsed with the negatives and the burden of proof language excised, the statute provides that an act or omission committed under either of the two conditions will preclude an innocent owner defense. If an act is committed with knowledge, the vehicle is forfeited, and if it is committed with consent, it is forfeited. Thus, a conjunctive, rather than disjunctive, reading seems plausible. 71 Of course, one might resort to the legislative history to construe the language, but unfortunately the legislative history is unhelpful on this issue. 20 The textual analysis does not, however, leave 6109 Grubb Road insupportable. Quite to the contrary, at least three different reasons justify the 6109 Grubb Road approach. First, the 6109 Grubb Road construction avoids making the consent requirement surplusage. Construing the statute to require the claimant to negate both knowledge and consent renders the consent language redundant. In other words, if a claimant established a lack of knowledge, this would necessarily negate any consent to the illegal activity, because in order to consent to drug activity, one must know about it. United States v. 141st St. Corp., 911 F.2d 870, 878 (2d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1109, 111 S.Ct. 1017, 112 L.Ed.2d 1099 (1991) (quoted in 1 SMITH, at p 4.02[d]. Under a conjunctive reading, [t]he term consent would be totally unnecessary since the factfinder would never reach the issue of consent once it concluded that the claimant either had knowledge or lacked knowledge. 1 SMITH, at p 4.02[d]. 21 72 Second, and more importantly, the 6109 Grubb Road construction ameliorates some of the harsh effects of the forfeiture statute. It allows an owner to keep the property when he or she has done everything reasonably possible to prevent its use in drug activity. See, e.g., United States v. All Right Title & Interest in Property Known as 710 Main St., 744 F.Supp. 510, 524-25 (S.D.N.Y.1990) (holding that a landlord who closed off portions of a building used in drug trafficking, posted signs discouraging drug trafficking, restricted hours of operation of one of the businesses, and made anonymous phone calls to the police to report drug activity at his property was an innocent owner); United States v. Certain Real Property & Premises Known as 171-02 Liberty Ave., 710 F.Supp. 46, 50-53 (E.D.N.Y.1989) (holding on a motion for summary judgment that a landlord who had purchased property in a drug infested neighborhood with the intention of fixing it up, and who, after admitting knowledge of drug related activities in his building, cooperated with police to try to clean it up, pressed criminal trespass charges against some drug dealers, and allowed police to tear down fences and steel doors that the dealers had erected to obstruct surveillance, had shown enough for a jury to find that he was an innocent owner). 22 73 Third, the 6109 Grubb Road construction avoids a potential constitutional problem with the statute. (This third justification is independent of but related to the second one.) When a landlord cognizant of drug transactions occurring at his or her property tries to do everything he or she reasonably can to prevent use of the property in that way, and the drug dealing continues, forfeiture of the property may be unduly oppressive. See Calero-Toledo, 416 U.S. at 689-90, 94 S.Ct. at 2094-95. 74 Not surprisingly, 6109 Grubb Road is now on one side of a circuit split on the question whether the claimant can achieve innocent owner status by showing the lack of one of the conditions. While the Second and Eleventh Circuits have followed 6109 Grubb Road, see United States v. 141st St. Corp., 911 F.2d 870, 877-80 (2d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1109, 111 S.Ct. 1017, 112 L.Ed.2d 1099 (1991); United States v. One Single Family Residence Located at 15603 85th Ave. N., 933 F.2d 976, 982 (11th Cir.1991) (stating that an owner with actual knowledge that the property was used or is being used for drug trafficking can keep the property if he can show that everything reasonably possible was done to prevent the taint), 23 the Ninth Circuit has adopted the opposite position, see United States v. One Parcel of Land at Lot 111-B, 902 F.2d 1443, 1445 (9th Cir.1990) ([I]f the claimant either knew or consented to the illegal activities, the 'innocent owner' defense is unavailable.); see also 890 Noyac Road, 739 F.Supp. at 113-15 (providing a good explanation of the problem with 6109 Grubb Road); cf. 1989 Jeep Wagoneer, 976 F.2d at 1174 (8th Cir.) (noting the circuit split without taking a position on the question). 24 75 The upshot of this extended analysis of 6109 Grubb Road is that, while reasonable people can disagree about its correctness, 6109 Grubb Road is defensible. Its construction of the statute sensibly works to the benefit of people who own property before the illegal act is committed. However, as we have discussed, 6109 Grubb Road ensures that a post-illegal-act transferee who did not know of the illegal act at the time it occurred will always be able to make out the innocent owner defense, regardless of whether he or she knew about the taint at the time of the transfer. 76 The 6109 Grubb Road opinion makes no mention of this problem. But that is understandable because, at the time 6109 Grubb Road was decided, its construction would have had no effect at all on the rights of post-illegal-act transferees. At that time it was generally assumed that because of the relation back provision of the forfeiture statute, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 881(h), which vested title in the United States at the moment of the illegal act, a post-illegal-act transferee could never have better title than the United States and could never benefit from the innocent owner defense. 25 In 1993, however, the Supreme Court decided United States v. Parcel of Land, Bldgs., Appurtenances & Improvements at 92 Buena Vista Avenue, Rumson, N.J., --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1126, 122 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), holding that the relation back provision does not defeat the rights of a post-illegal-act transferee who otherwise satisfies the requirements for the innocent owner defense under Sec. 881(a)(6). Thus, 92 Buena Vista Avenue has the effect of making the knowledge or consent language of the statute as interpreted by 6109 Grubb Road applicable to post-illegal-act transferees and, in turn, creates the problem of insulating certain owners who one reasonably might not consider to be deserving.