Opinion ID: 200426
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: John Bulger

Text: 22 John Bulger's failure to file a timely claim as required by Supplemental Rule C(6) — or indeed any claim at all until years after the judgment — is sufficient on its own to disqualify him from intervention now. There is no reason to forgive that failure. He filed a timely claim in the forfeiture action against the joint bank account, litigated that case vigorously, and ultimately reached a settlement with the government. It is beyond serious dispute that he was aware of the parallel forfeiture action against the lottery proceeds. See $81,000, 189 F.3d at 32 (describing how John Bulger learned of the lottery forfeiture complaint and withdrew cash from the joint account, motivated by a concern that further forfeiture proceedings might be in the offing). Yet he did not submit a similar claim in the lottery case, or even participate in his sister's efforts to intervene. His knowing failure to file anything at that time, whether because he chose not to do so or because he recognized his lack of standing, leaves him with no good excuse for his tardiness. See One Urban Lot, 885 F.2d at 999 (dismissing where neither claim nor answer was filed). 23 John Bulger actually concedes that he lacked constitutional standing to bring the case in 1995, in order to explain why he could not appeal from the original default judgment and to thereby distinguish his case from United States v. One Rural Lot, 238 F.3d 76 (1st Cir.2001) (per curiam). 4 He suggests that the intervening event that cured this admitted lack of standing was the Weeks evidence. This effort fails. Nothing about the Weeks evidence changed John Bulger's relationship to the forfeited property or the injury he suffered as a result of forfeiture. The new information may have affected the arguments he could make, but not his standing to make them. 24 He advances a final argument, saying that since he had standing to contest the forfeiture of the joint bank account, see $81,000, 189 F.3d at 39, he must have standing here. Not so. In this case, as in that one, he relies on his connection to the joint bank account as the basis for his claim of interest. He argues here that, because the annual payments were deposited into the joint account, they would have come under his control shortly after their disbursement. He also argues that, but for the forfeiture of the lottery proceeds, the joint account would have contained an additional $480,020.16 in lottery payments at the time of his May 2000 settlement with the government in the $81,000 litigation, presumably resulting in a larger share for him. 25 In $81,000, this court meticulously reviewed facts pointing in different directions to conclude that, on balance, John Bulger had standing to contest the forfeiture of money that was already in the joint bank account, despite numerous indications that it actually belonged to Whitey Bulger, because John Bulger had possession of that money and dominion and control over it. See id. at 36-39. In contrast, here John Bulger never possessed any of the lottery payments after 1994. He had no influence whatsoever over the payments, at least until they were deposited into the account. By seizing the funds before they made their way into the joint account, the government removed any possession or control John Bulger had over them, thus tipping the $81,000 analysis against him. See 18 U.S.C. § 981(f) (2000) (giving United States [a]ll right, title, and interest in forfeited property).