Opinion ID: 777310
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Suppression in Civil Forfeiture Cases

Text: 30 The Supreme Court has held that the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule applies in civil forfeiture cases. One 1958 Plymouth Sedan v. Pennsylvania, 380 U.S. 693, 702, 85 S.Ct. 1246, 14 L.Ed.2d 170 (1965). This circuit's exposition of that holding remains, however, somewhat unclear. In United States v. $37,780 in U.S. Currency, 920 F.2d 159 (2d Cir.1990), we stated that an illegal seizure of property does not immunize that property from forfeiture, that the property itself cannot be excluded from the forfeiture action, and that evidence obtained independent of the illegal seizure may be used in the forfeiture action. Id. at 163 (emphasis added). The meaning of the italicized portion of this statement is somewhat unclear. Other courts of appeals and commentators have understood it to mean that the defendant property must also be admitted for its evidentiary value in forfeiture proceedings regardless of the propriety of its initial seizure — and, so interpreted, these courts and commentators have generally been critical of that principle. See United States v. $191,910.00 in U.S. Currency, 16 F.3d 1051, 1064 & n. 27 (9th Cir.1994) (disagreeing with $37,780 and noting that majority of circuits do likewise); 1 Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 1.7(a) n. 10 (3d ed. 1996) (Despite some authority to the contrary [i.e., $37,780 ], it does not follow that the res in a forfeiture proceeding, if itself illegally seized, can also be admitted for its evidentiary value.). 31 This circuit has not expounded further on the meaning of that statement, so its precise meaning — indeed, even its status as a holding—and its application to this case is unclear. Nor is it certain whether any of what claimant seeks to have excluded as fruits of an illegal seizure — such as the information that Inspector Callery was able to ascertain from the money orders regarding purchase dates and places — might therefore be admissible under $37,780 regardless of the propriety of the initial seizure because it is evidence obtainable from the face of the money orders themselves. However, because, as shown below, we find no Fourth Amendment violation upon which to base any type of exclusion of evidence, we need not further examine this rather murky area.