Court Opinion

ID: 9593975
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:26:02.591915+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:22.580493
License: Public Domain

STOWERS, Justice (Dissenting). I disagree with the majority opinion’s conclusion that “the re titling of the vehicle was an improper attempt by the State to remove the res from the control of the trial court.” The law clearly indicates that the execution on the judgment and removal of the res from the control of the court is not improper. In conducting this forfeiture proceeding, the district court exercised in rem jurisdiction and the 1986 Volvo automobile was the res. See United States v. One Lear Jet Aircraft, 836 F.2d 1571, 1576-77 (11th Cir.1988). The power of the court derived entirely from its control over the res. Release or removal of the res from the control of the court ended the jurisdiction of the court, in accordance with this general rule. See United States v. $57,480.05 United States Currency and Other Coins, 772 F.2d 1457, 1458 (9th Cir.1984); American Bank of Wage Claims v. Registry of the District Court of Guam, 431 F.2d 1215, 1219 (9th Cir.1970). The only exception to this rule occurs when the res is released accidently, fraudulently or improperly. United States v. $2,490.00 in United States Currency, 825 F.2d 1419, 1420 (9th Cir.1987); United States v. $79,000 in United States Currency, 801 F.2d 738, 739 (5th Cir.1986). The release of the res without informing the claimant about the execution on the judgment does not render the release improper. See $2,490 in United States Currency, 825 F.2d at 1420; $79,-000 in United States Currency, 801 F.2d at 740; $57,480.05 United States Currency and Other Coins, 722 F.2d at 1458. Thus, the state’s action in the present case in retitling the vehicle should not be characterized as improper. Nor does the failure to notify Devlin of the execution on the judgment render the release improper. See $79,000 in United States Currency, 801 F.2d at 740. There is no requirement of notification. Instead, it was incumbent upon Devlin, the claimant, to timely obtain a stay of the district court’s judgment to preserve jurisdiction for an appeal. See $57,480.05 United States Currency and Other Coins, 722 F.2d at 1458. This he failed to do. The state’s action in executing on the judgment removed the subject matter of the lawsuit from the control of the district court. That action destroyed the district court’s jurisdiction and ended any appellate jurisdiction. As a consequence neither this court nor the district court has the power to grant the relief that the claimant seeks. Those cases cited in the majority opinion for the proposition that in personam jurisdiction may exist concurrently with in rem jurisdiction in forfeiture actions rely for in personam jurisdiction on either a statute, United States v. Wingfield, 822 F.2d 1466 (10th Cir.1987), or consent by a party, Trans-Asiatic Oil Ltd., S.A. v. Apex Oil Co., 804 F.2d 773 (1st Cir.1986); Farwest Steel Corp. v. Barge Sea-Span 241, 769 F.2d 620 (9th Cir.1985), or a substitute basis for the lawsuit, United States v. An Article of Drug Consisting of 4,680 Pails, 725 F.2d 976 (5th Cir.1984). In Wingfield, the court of appeals averred that Section 7426 of the Internal Revenue Code, granted the federal district court jurisdiction to order the Government to return the seized property or its equivalent, i.e., a money judgment. And the court concluded that because the district court had the power to order restitution by payment of an equivalent value, jurisdiction of the court had not been destroyed by release of the property to the Government. Wingfield, 822 F.2d at 1471-72. Likewise, in An Article of Drug Consisting of 4,680 Pails, the court concluded that jurisdiction existed because the action was really one for declaratory judgment. While, in form the relief requested by the United States is the forfeiture and destruction of a specifically identified lot of Neo-Terra Powder, the action, in substance, seeks much more. The substantive character of the remedy sought in this case is not forfeiture and destruction of a specific lot of Neo-Terra Powder, but a declaration that Neo-Terra Powder is or is not a new animal drug. An Article of Drug Consisting of 4,680 Pails, 725 F.2d at 984. To hold in forfeiture eases that in personam jurisdiction may co-exist with in rem jurisdiction is contrary to the traditional analysis of in rem jurisdiction. See One Lear Jet Aircraft, 836 F.2d at 1576-77. Finally, the effect of the majority opinion is to grant a claimant a minimum sixty-day automatic stay of execution pending perfection of an appeal. This does not comport with the language in Rule 62, SCRA 1986, 1-062, or with that in Section 39-3-22, NMSA 1978, of our statutes. Instead, it deprives a party of the right to execute on the judgment for that period of time without providing that party any protection from the dissipation or destruction of the asset. The appeal was properly dismissed by the court of appeals for lack of jurisdiction over the res. SCARBOROUGH, C.J., concurs.