Opinion ID: 1767741
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Litigation of forfeiture action

Text: The Act provides that after the property is first seized, the state must file a petition for a rule to show cause in the circuit court, and upon producing due proof that the property was used in violation of the Act, the court shall issue a final order of forfeiture vesting legal title in the appropriate agency under the Act. However, that is the sum total of direction given by the Act. The Act does not set out any procedures for filing the petition or issuing the rule to show cause, except that a rule shall issue upon the showing of due proof. § 932.704(1), Fla. Stat. (1989). The Act does not address any requirements for filing the petition; which procedural rules should apply to control the litigation; what standard and burden of proof is due for issuance of the rule; whether a trial  with or without a jury  is required to decide the merits of the action once the rule has been issued; what standard and burden of proof apply in deciding the ultimate issue, including defenses; and whether and how property is to be divided or partitioned to ensure that only the guilty property is forfeited. As the Fourth District Court appropriately characterized the Act, forfeiture proceedings are procedural quagmires on account of the failure of the statute to provide measures to be followed other than to say `... by rule to show cause in the circuit court.' In re Forfeiture of United States Currency in the Amount of Five Thousand Three Hundred Dollars ($5,300.00), 429 So.2d 800, 801-02 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); see also One 1978 Green Datsun Pickup Truck v. State ex rel. Manatee County, 457 So.2d 1060, 1061 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984) (describing forfeiture proceedings as murky); In re Forfeiture of 1975 Mercedes Benz 450 SL, 455 So.2d 498, 499 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) (dismissal of complaint was premature no doubt due to the absence of a clearly established procedure to be followed in forfeiture proceedings); Famiglietti v. State ex rel. Broward County, 382 So.2d 767 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980) (Anstead, J., dissenting), dismissed, 386 So.2d 636 (Fla. 1980). The forfeiture practice of courts in this state has been largely established by case law in the absence of formal direction. In re Forfeiture of Six Video Draw Poker Machines, 544 So.2d 1097 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); see In re Approximately Forty-Eight Thousand Nine Hundred Dollars ($48,900.00), 432 So.2d 1382 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); In re Forfeiture of United States Currency in the amount of Five Thousand Three Hundred Dollars ($5,300.00); see also, e.g., Willie v. Castro, 490 So.2d 250 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). We conclude that the following procedures drawn from various district court decisions are in accord with the Act, existing rules, and minimal requirements of due process, and thus shall be followed in the courts of this state. The agency seeking forfeiture may file its complaint by applying for the issuance of a rule to show cause in the circuit court of jurisdiction where the property was restrained or where the alleged offense occurred. The petition must be verified and supported by affidavit. If the court determines that the petition on its face sufficiently states a cause of action for forfeiture, the court shall sign and issue the rule. A copy of the petition and the rule shall be served on all persons whom the agency knows, or with reasonable investigation should know, have a legal interest in the property. The rule to show cause also shall require that responsive pleadings and affirmative defenses be filed within twenty days of service of the rule to show cause. As stated above, in real property forfeiture actions the state shall give notice to interested parties as to the time and place for which the adversarial preliminary hearing has been scheduled; and in personal property forfeiture actions, the state must notify interested parties that they have a right to an adversarial preliminary hearing upon request. The Florida Rules of Civil Procedure shall otherwise control service of process, discovery, and other measures appropriate for the administration of forfeiture proceedings. It is now well settled that the ultimate issue of forfeiture must be decided by jury trial unless claimants waive that right. Art. I, § 22, Fla. Const.; see In re Forfeiture of 1978 Chevrolet Van, 493 So.2d 433 (Fla. 1986). That substantive right is also subsumed within article I, section 9 of the Florida Constitution. However, the issue of standard and burden of proof has not been previously addressed by this Court. The state argues that the agency seeking forfeiture need establish its case by at most a preponderance of the evidence, whereas the claimants argue that the constitution requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, or alternatively, by clear and convincing evidence. Case law reflects no uniformity in this state as to the appropriate burden and standard of proof. See In re Approximately Forty-Eight Thousand Nine Hundred Dollars ($48,900.00), 432 So.2d at 1382; In re Forfeiture of One 1976 Chevrolet Corvette, 442 So.2d 307 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), review denied, 451 So.2d 849 (Fla. 1984); Marks v. State, 416 So.2d 872 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). We conclude that the state has the burden of proof at trial, which should be by no less than clear and convincing evidence. The state and the decisions on which it relies fail to recognize the significance of the constitutionally protected rights at issue and the impact forfeiture has on those rights. In forfeiture proceedings the state impinges on basic constitutional rights of individuals who may never have been formally charged with any civil or criminal wrongdoing. This Court has consistently held that the constitution requires substantial burdens of proof where state action may deprive individuals of basic rights. For example, when an individual is charged with a crime, the government cannot deprive that person of life, liberty, or property unless it carries the burden of proof beyond every reasonable doubt as to each essential element. E.g., State v. Cohen, 568 So.2d 49, 51 (Fla. 1990); accord In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). In noncriminal contexts, this Court has held that constitutionally protected individual rights may not be impinged with a showing of less than clear and convincing evidence. See Padgett v. Department of Health & Rehab. Servs., 577 So.2d 565 (Fla. 1991) (clear and convincing evidence required for termination of parental rights); In re Guardianship of Browning, 568 So.2d 4 (Fla. 1990) (clear and convincing evidence required before a surrogate can exercise an incompetent patient's right to terminate life support); In re Bryan, 550 So.2d 447 (Fla. 1989) (clear and convincing evidence required to deprive an individual of basic property rights through a determination of incompetency); Nodar v. Galbreath, 462 So.2d 803, 806 (Fla. 1984) (public official or public figure must prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence to impinge on first amendment rights in a defamation suit); accord Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 342, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 3008, 41 L.Ed.2d 789 (1974); see also, e.g., Downing v. Bird, 100 So.2d 57, 64 (Fla. 1958) (in adverse possession cases, the claimant must show by clear, definite and accurate proof that the adverse possession of property continued for the full period required by Florida law). Accordingly, due proof under the Act constitutionally means that the government may not take an individual's property in forfeiture proceedings unless it proves, by no less than clear and convincing evidence, that the property being forfeited was used in the commission of a crime. Art. I, § 9, Fla. Const. Lack of knowledge of the holder of an interest in the property that the property was being employed in criminal activity is a defense to forfeiture, which, if established by a preponderance of the evidence, defeats the forfeiture action as to that property interest. Art. I, § 9, Fla. Const. Forfeiture must be limited to the property or the portion thereof that was used in the crime. Art. I, §§ 9, 17, Fla. Const. If a verdict favoring forfeiture satisfies the requirements of law, the court shall issue a final order of forfeiture, disposing of the property in accordance with law.