Opinion ID: 202709
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Substitute Assets

Text: 40 When Pierre was arrested, the government seized from him various pieces of jewelry—including a watch, necklace, ring, bracelet, and earrings—subsequently valued at over $60,000. It then began administrative forfeiture proceedings, but when Pierre filed a motion contesting the forfeiture, the government abandoned the claim. Pierre's motion also requested immediate return of the jewelry, but the government refused to return the jewelry to Pierre, stating that it was evidence of criminal activity. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 41(g) (providing that the district court may impose reasonable conditions to protect access to [seized] property and its use in later proceedings). The district court agreed that the government was permitted to retain possession of the jewelry as evidence and denied Pierre's motion requesting return of the jewelry. 41 On September 24, 2003, the government obtained a second superceding indictment that included a forfeiture allegation specifying the seized jewelry and $500,000 as forfeitable. At the 2003 trial, Fernandes testified that Pierre had spent money on gold chains and a jeweled bracelet, and the government offered the jewelry into evidence without objection. Prior to the 2004 trial, however, Pierre challenged the admissibility of the jewelry, arguing that the government was unable to tie it to the alleged conspiracy. The district court granted Pierre's motion to exclude the jewelry from the 2004 trial, except for the pair of earrings, which Mickens testified Pierre purchased for himself during their relationship. Defense counsel then took possession of the excluded jewelry. 42 After the jury in the 2004 trial returned a special verdict finding that $500,000 and the earrings were forfeitable, the district court entered a preliminary order forfeiting the earrings and the other four pieces of jewelry as substitute assets, 21 U.S.C. § 853(p), since the government was unable to locate the $500,000 specified in the special verdict. See United States v. Hall, 434 F.3d 42, 58 n. 7 (1st Cir.2006) (Substitute property may be seized by the government to satisfy a forfeiture order where, by an act or omission, the defendant has prevented the government from tracing his illegally obtained assets.). Nine months later, the district court entered a final order of forfeiture, forfeiting the earrings and the substitute assets. 43 Pierre does not object to the forfeiture of the four pieces of jewelry as substitute assets, but rather to the district court's having permitted the government to retain possession of them prior to the 2003 trial. As a remedy, he seeks to have the jewelry (or its monetary equivalent) returned to him now. We review the district court's interpretation of Rule 41(g) de novo. See United States v. Dean, 100 F.3d 19, 20 (5th Cir.1996). The district court's factual determination that the jewelry had evidentiary value to the government is reviewed for clear error. See id. 44 Rule 41(g) provides that [a] person aggrieved . . . by the deprivation of property may move [the district court] for the property's return. Once seized property is no longer needed as evidence, a criminal defendant is presumed to have the right to its return. See Dean, 100 F.3d at 20; United States v. Mills, 991 F.2d 609, 612 (9th Cir.1993). However, [a] Rule 41[(g)] motion is properly denied `if the defendant is not entitled to lawful possession of the seized property, the property is contraband or subject to forfeiture[,] or the government's need for the property as evidence continues.' Mills, 991 F.2d at 612 (quoting United States v. Van Cauwenberghe, 934 F.2d 1048, 1061 (9th Cir.1991)); see also United States v. Saunders, 957 F.2d 1488, 1495 (8th Cir.1992) (holding that [t]he motion for the return of the paperwork, even papers that were not introduced at trial, was premature because defendant's direct appeal was still pending); Van Cauwenberghe, 934 F.2d at 1061 (holding that a defendant's motion for the return of property may be denied based on the government's need for the property as evidence). 45 The district court's finding that the jewelry had evidentiary value to the government was not clearly erroneous. The government introduced the seized jewelry into evidence at the 2003 trial and presented testimony attempting to link the jewelry to the proceeds of the charged conspiracy. Once it became clear that the government's evidence on this point was not particularly strong, the district court granted Pierre's motion to exclude four pieces of the jewelry, and defense counsel took possession of those pieces at that time. 46 Moreover, even if the district court's order permitting the government to retain possession of the jewelry before the 2003 trial was in error, Pierre still would not be entitled to return of the jewelry now. An illegal seizure of property does not immunize it from forfeiture as long as the government can sustain the forfeiture claim with independent evidence. United States v. Rogers, 102 F.3d 641, 648 (1st Cir.1996) (rejecting a claim that property illegally seized by law enforcement officers was not forfeitable). The cases cited by Pierre in support of his argument that the jewelry must be returned do not suggest otherwise. Rather, the remedy in each of those cases was to affirm the denial of or vacate the grant of a pre-trial restraining order as to substitute assets. United States v. Gotti, 155 F.3d 144, 146, 150 (2d Cir.1998); United States v. Field, 62 F.3d 246, 247-48, 250 (8th Cir.1995); In re Assets of Martin, 1 F.3d 1351, 1354, 1362 (3d Cir.1993); United States v. Floyd, 992 F.2d 498, 498-99 (5th Cir.1993). 47 The forfeiture of the jewelry was not erroneous.