For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 23
order, Philadelphia, Montgomery, Allegheny, York,
and Lancaster.4 Although total forfeiture income
is one measure of active civil forfeiture practices,
an alternative measure is per capita forfeiture income based upon population data. Statewide, per
capita forfeiture income over this four-year period
was $5.92.5 Five counties-Philadelphia, Dauphin,
Lehigh, Lackawanna, and York-exceeded the
state average, suggesting an intensive use of forfeiture in those counties.6
By either measure, civil forfeiture is routine
business for Pennsylvania law enforcement authorities, despite its destabilizing consequences for families and communities. There is a great
need for vigorous legal representation of property
owners to make sure that private property is not
wrongly forfeited, especially in light of the strong
financial self-interest that law enforcement enjoys
under the Controlled Substances Forfeiture Act.
Recent case law developments and legislative reforms provide stronger avenues for a robust defense of civil forfeiture. Lawyers should carefully
consider the following five recent developments
when defending against civil forfeiture.
1
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Speaks to the Excessive Fines
and Innocent Owner Defenses
to Civil Forfeiture
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's recent decision
in Commonwealth v. 1997 Chevrolet and Contents
Seized from James Young ("Young")7 bolsters two
key defenses invoked by property owners against
civil forfeiture.8 The heart of the decision addresses the constitutional protection against excessive
fines under the Eighth Amendment of the federal Constitution as well as Article I, Section 13 of
the Pennsylvania constitution. Though an excessive fines defense has long applied to in rem civil
forfeitures, it succeeded infrequently in defeating
such forfeitures in Pennsylvania, and considerable ambiguity had emerged in federal and state
case law regarding how the defense should be
analyzed. The Young decision adds considerable
clarity and heft to the analytical framework for
applying this defense, providing property owners
and their counsel with a road map for evidentiary
development and trial strategy.
In the case, Elizabeth Young, a 71-year old
Aggressive civil forfeiture
practices exist in many counties
throughout the Commonwealth. The
five counties deriving the most
forfeiture income over this four-year
period are, in descending order,
Philadelphia, Montgomery, Allegheny,
York, and Lancaster.4
grandmother with significant health issues, appealed the forfeiture of her West Philadelphia
home of more than 30 years as well as her only
automobile. The Philadelphia District Attorney
brought these forfeiture actions because Ms.
Young's adult son, living with her at the time,
allegedly sold marijuana to confidential informants in proximity to Ms. Young's home and car.
Although Ms. Young was never charged with any
criminal wrongdoing, the trial court ordered forfeiture of both her home and car with sparse evidence or analysis of the excessive fines defense
invoked by Ms. Young's counsel.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's 73 page
opinion in Young, affirming a similarly expansive
Commonwealth Court decision, remanded to the
trial court for a considerably broader inquiry of Ms.
Young's defense that forfeiture of her home and car
would be an excessive fine under the federal and
state constitutions. First, based on the court's recognition that civil forfeiture is an in rem proceeding, distinct in origin and form from in personam
criminal forfeiture actions,9 Young held that the
trial court on remand must make a threshold determination "whether the property sought to be
forfeited is an instrumentality of the underlying offense."10 Determining whether this "significant relationship" exists may involve whether the property
was "uniquely important" to the activity, whether
the use was "deliberate and planned," "repeated,"
"extensive spatially and/or temporally," among other factors.11 If the property is not an instrumentality,
then forfeiture of the property is deemed constitutionally excessive and cannot proceed.12
If the property is found to have been an instrumentality of the crime, the trial court then must
determine "whether the value of the property
Vol. 2, Issue 3 | For The Defense
23
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017
Table of Contents
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 1
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 2
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - Table of Contents
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 4
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 5
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 6
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 7
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 8
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 9
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For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 11
For the Defense - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2017 - 12
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