Court Opinion

ID: 9517922
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 00:37:05.936125+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:26:00.177830
License: Public Domain

O’HERN, J.,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority that the absence of a criminal conviction does not preclude civil forfeiture of criminal contraband. United States v. One Assortment of 89 Firearms, 465 U.S. 354, 104 S.Ct. 1099, 79 L.Ed.2d 361 (1984) (holding that neither collateral estoppel nor double jeopardy bars civil-forfeiture proceeding against weapons following owner’s acquittal on criminal charges of dealing in firearms without license). Although the fairer policy might be to require the property owner’s conviction as a predicate to forfeiture (or at least to allow for return of the forfeited property after the owner’s acquittal), our law does not now contain such provisions. See N.J.S.A 2C:64-4(b) (stating that “[t]he fact that a prosecution involving seized property terminates without a conviction does not preclude forfeiture proceedings against the property”). The principle that the total absence of criminal prosecution does not preclude forfeiture of criminal contraband follows logically from the policy stated in N.J.S.A 2C:64-4(b). Concerns about innocent owners, which this Court expressed in State v. 1979 Pontiac Trans Am, 98 N.J. 474, 487 A.2d 722 (1985), are now treated in N.J.S.A 2C:64-5(b), which provides in pertinent part that seized property
shall not be subject to forfeiture if the owner of the property establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the owner was not involved in or aware of the unlawful activity and that the owner had done all that could reasonably be expected to prevent the proscribed use of the property by an agent.
That defense demonstrates legislative awareness of the need to limit the unfair reach of the statute as read literally.
*243However, our concern here is not with the concept of civil forfeiture itself. Rather, our concern is with the application of the mechanism of civil forfeiture in this case. Although forfeiture statutes must be strictly construed against the government, the plain language of the statutes cannot be avoided. To support a forfeiture, the government need demonstrate only “ ‘a direct causal relationship between the use of the property and the unlawful activity.’ ” State v. One 1986 Subaru, 120 N.J. 310, 320, 576 A.2d 859 (1990) (quoting State v. One 1986 Subaru, 230 N.J.Super. 451, 457, 553 A.2d 869 (App.Div.1989)). Thus, in this case, we must review the trial court’s factual findings to determine whether those findings establish the requisite relationship between the funds at issue and unlawful drug activity. Accepting this case on the basis that the State need establish its case only by a preponderance of the evidence, ante at 240, 642 A.2d at 975, the State has more than met its burden of proof in support of the forfeiture.
We sit not as factfinders but as appellate reviewers of a non-jury trial and are bound by the findings of the trial court, so long as those findings are supported by adequate, substantial, and credible evidence. “It has otherwise been stated that ‘our appellate function is a limited one: we do not disturb the factual findings and legal conclusions of the trial judge unless we are convinced that they are so manifestly unsupported by or inconsistent with the competent, relevant and reasonably credible evidence as to offend the interests of justice’ * * *.” Rova Farms Resort, Inc. v. Investors Ins. Co. of Am., 65 N.J. 474, 484, 323 A.2d 495 (1974) (quoting Fagliarone v. Township of N. Bergen, 78 N.J.Super. 154, 155, 188 A.2d 43 (App.Div.), certif. denied, 40 N.J. 221, 191 A.2d 61 (1963)).
In this case, the trial court carefully considered all the relevant credible evidence. (The trial court found the evidence sufficient to support the conclusion that such a relationship existed both initially and on remand from the Appellate Division.) It found that the cash discovered in Durden’s car at the time of his arrest was to be used in connection with an illegal narcotics transaction. Among *244the facts in the record on which the trial court relied were the following: (1) the money was in the lap of a passenger at the time the officer arrived on the scene; (2) the passenger tried to hide the money under the seat of the car; (3) the cash was in the form of small-denomination bills (nineteen $100 bills, sixty-six $50 bills, seventy-eight $20 bills, twenty-three $10 bills, and two $5 bills) in multiple stacks, each held together by a band; (4) the passenger tried to hide two beepers in the glove compartment; and (5) an eyeglass case in the glove compartment contained six empty glassine bags, which are often used for packaging drugs. Although the trial court gave credence to the fact that the money might have come from the proceeds of a real-estate transaction, it did not accept the explanation that Durden had intended to buy a car with the cash. It reasoned that even if the seller of the automobile had not wished to take Durden’s personal check, Durden could have obtained a certified or cashier’s check, thus eliminating the need to carry a large bundle of cash. In addition, the court found relevant the presence of a cellular phone in the 1978 Toyota. For people to use cellular telephones in connection with their businesses is not unusual; here, however, Durden said that the phone belonged to his passenger, who was unemployed. Finally, the court found incredible defendant’s story that he did not know the case in his trunk contained a triple-beam scale with white residue on it. According to an investigator who works for the Monmouth County Prosecutor and who testified as an expert witness at the trial, such scales are frequently used in drug trafficking. Those facts constitute sufficient credible evidence for the trial court’s conclusion that defendant had intended to purchase drugs with the money.
Although not everyone might reach the same conclusion as the trial court did on the same facts, our function is not to make independent findings of fact but to consider whether the trial court’s findings are supported by substantial credible evidence contained in the record. That standard has been met here.
*245For affirmance—Chief Justice WILENTZ, and Justices HANDLER and O’HERN—3.
For reversal and remandment—Justices CLIFFORD, POLLOCK, GARIBALDI and STEIN-^L