Opinion ID: 3023387
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: The district court had subject matter jurisdiction over this habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1651, and 2254. This court has appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Predka filed a timely notice of appeal on September 1, 1998, Fed. R. App. P. 4(a), and his application for a certificate of appealability was granted pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c) on September 9, 1998. BACKGROUND FACTS Predka is a Utah resident. On July 16, 1994, he was driving through Des Moines on Interstate 80. Deputy Craig Brooks of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, stopped Predka near Altoona, Iowa, for speeding and not wearing a seat belt. Brooks searched the car and found and seized about 140 pounds of marijuana and $2,147.00 in cash. Predka was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and failure to have a drug tax stamp. The state also served Predka with notice of forfeiture of his car and the cash. Predka filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized and a motion to dismiss the drug tax stamp charge on Commerce Clause grounds. In October 1994 the state trial court entered judgment forfeiting the car and the cash. Predka then filed a motion to dismiss the criminal prosecution on double jeopardy grounds. The state trial court denied all the motions. A jury found Predka guilty on both counts, and the state trial court sentenced him to imprisonment for a period not more than 10 years on the drug count and 5 years on the drug tax stamp count. The state trial court later reconsidered the sentence and placed him on probation. -2- The state supreme court affirmed the conviction and sentence on direct appeal. State v. Predka, 555 N.W.2d 202 (Iowa 1996). Predka filed a petition for habeas relief in federal district court, asserting that the criminal prosecution following the forfeiture of his property violated the Double Jeopardy Clause. The district court denied the petition. This court affirmed the denial of habeas relief. Predka v. Polk County District Court, 100 F.3d 959 (8th Cir. 1996) (table). Appellant then filed this habeas petition, asserting that the state drug tax stamp law violated the Commerce Clause. The district court denied the petition, agreeing with the analysis of the state supreme court that contraband, including marijuana, is not protected by the Commerce Clause from taxes like that imposed by the state drug tax stamp law. See slip op. at 3, citing State v. Predka, 555 N.W.2d at 213-14 (holding, among other things, that marijuana was not a proper article of commerce subject to protection under the Commerce Clause because it was contraband). This appeal followed.