Court Opinion

ID: 2963705
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:14:07.975663+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:42:44.731450
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

          October 26, 1995
                                [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

                           
                                 ____________________

        No. 95-1700 

                              UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                 Plaintiff, Appellee,

                                          v.

             ONE 1981 MERCEDES BENZ, VIN, WDBBA45ABB008518 AND ONE LOT OF
                             $6,122.00 IN U.S. CURRENCY,

                                 Defendant, Appellee,

                                                 
                                     ____________

                                  FRANK M. GOLDMAN,

                                 Claimant, Appellant.

                                                     
                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                          FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

                     [Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge]
                                             ___________________
                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                                Cyr, Boudin and Lynch,
                                   Circuit Judges.
                                   ______________

                                 ____________________

            Frank Goldman on brief pro se.
            _____________
            Donald K. Stern,  United States Attorney, and Richard L.  Hoffman,
            _______________                               ___________________
        Assistant United States Attorney, on brief for appellee.

                                 ____________________

                                 ____________________

                 Per Curiam.  Claimant Frank  Goldman appeals pro se from
                 __________

            the district  court's grant of  summary judgment in  favor of

            the United States  in this civil  forfeiture action under  21

            U.S.C.    881(a)(6).   Goldman  was previously  convicted  of

            trafficking offenses in connection with his attempted sale of

            cocaine  to a government undercover agent.  The facts and the

            extensive evidence  against  Goldman are  summarized  in  our

            decision affirming his conviction.  United States v. Goldman,
                                                _____________    _______

            41 F.3d  785 (1st Cir. 1994),  cert. denied, 115 S.  Ct. 1321
                                           ____________

            (1995).

                 In  connection with  Goldman's  arrest, law  enforcement

            officers  at the scene seized  $722 from Goldman's person and

            $5,400 from  the trunk of Goldman's car.   Most of the seized

            currency was in  small denominations and  the currency  taken

            from the  car was in an  open gym bag underneath  a paper bag

            containing two kilograms of cocaine.  While the criminal case

            was pending,  the government filed a  civil forfeiture action

            against the seized currency under 21 U.S.C.   881(a)(6).  

                 Ultimately, Goldman filed a motion for summary judgment;

            in  an accompanying affidavit, he asserted  that the money in

            the gym bag was  the remainder of a $12,000  inheritance from

            his father that Goldman  had been planning to deposit  in the

            bank.   The  government  cross-moved  for  summary  judgment,

            supported  by  transcripts  of  the  testimony  in  Goldman's

            criminal trial.  The district court granted the  government's

            motion, and this appeal followed.

                 We  need  not  resolve  Goldman's  argument  that  civil

            forfeiture for  the same conduct previously  made the subject

            of a  criminal conviction  would violate the  double jeopardy

            clause of  the Fifth  Amendment.   Compare  United States  v.
                                               _______  _____________

            $405,089.23 U.S.  Currency, 33  F.3d 1210, 1216-22  (9th Cir.
            __________________________

            1994),  amended 56  F.3d  41 (1995),  with  United States  v.
                    _______                       ____  _____________

            Tilley, 18 F.3d 295, 297-300 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 115 S.
            ______                                   ____________

            Ct. 573 (1994).   There is no indication that the currency in

            question derived  from any transaction for  which Goldman was

            convicted  or was linked to  any prior conviction.   Thus, no

            double jeopardy question is presented.    

                 The  government had  a relatively  light burden  to show

            probable   cause  to   believe   the   seized  currency   was

            forfeitable,  see United States v. 255 Broadway, 9 F.3d 1000,
                          ___ _____________    ____________

            1003  (1st Cir. 1993), and the  facts already described amply

            met that burden.   The obligation then shifted to  Goldman to

            provide specific facts showing that there was a genuine issue

            of  material fact for trial.  See Fed.  R. Civ. P. 56(e).  In
                                          ___

            our view,  the notion that Goldman's  alleged inheritance was

            being  carried around  in  small bills  in  an open  gym  bag

            underneath cocaine  in the trunk  of his car  is sufficiently

            fanciful that no trial was required.  Affirmed.
                                                  ________

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