United States of America v. Approximately $25,560.00 in U.S. Currency

Filing 20

STIPULATION and ORDER signed by Judge William B. Shubb on 2/13/09 ORDERING this matter STAYED for a period of six months; a Scheduling Conference is SET for 8/24/2009 at 02:00 PM in Courtroom 5 (WBS) before Judge William B. Shubb. (Carlos, K)

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LAWRENCE G. BROWN Acting United States Attorney KRISTIN S. DOOR, SBN 84307 Assistant United States Attorney 501 I Street, Suite 10-100 Sacramento, CA 95814 Telephone: [phone] Attorneys for Plaintiff United States of America

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. APPROXIMATELY $25,560.00 IN U.S. CURRENCY, Defendant.

) 2:06-CV-02839-WBS ) ) STIPULATION FOR STAY OF ) FURTHER PROCEEDINGS AND ) ORDER [PROPOSED] ) ) )Date: N/A )Time: N/A )Courtroom: N/A )

Plaintiff United States of America, and Claimants Reginald Bowers and Dorothy Williams, by and through their respective counsel, hereby stipulate that a stay is necessary in the aboveentitled action, and request that the Court enter an order staying all further proceedings for a period of six months pending the outcome of a related criminal case against claimant Bowers (U.S. v. Reginald Bowers, 2:06-cr-00288 WBS). 1. Claimant Bowers filed a claim to the defendant property

on January 18, 2007, and filed an Answer to the complaint on February 2, 2007. Claimant Williams filed a claim on February 7,

2007, and an Answer on February 27, 2007. 2. The stay is requested pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1

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§§ 981(g)(1) and 981(g)(2).

The plaintiff contends that the

defendant currency is the proceeds of drug trafficking and is forfeitable to the United States pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(6). 3. Claimants deny the allegations.

The plaintiff intends to depose claimants regarding

their claim to the defendant property and their involvement in drug trafficking. If discovery proceeds at this time, claimants

will be placed in the difficult position of either invoking their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and losing the ability to pursue their claims to the defendant real property, or waiving their Fifth Amendment right and submitting to depositions and potentially incriminating themselves. If either person

invokes their Fifth Amendment right, the plaintiff will be deprived of the ability to explore the factual basis for the claims they filed with this court. 4. In addition, claimants intend to depose the law Allowing

enforcement agents involved in this investigation.

depositions of the law enforcement officers at this time would adversely affect the ability of federal authorities to prosecute the pending criminal action. 5. The parties recognize that proceeding with this action

at this time has potential adverse affects on the government's ability to prosecute the underlying criminal conduct and/or upon claimants' ability to prove their claims to the property and assert any defenses to forfeiture. For these reasons, the

parties jointly request that this matter be stayed for six months. At that time the parties will advise the court of the

status of the related criminal action, and will advise the court 2

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whether a further stay is necessary. Dated: February 5, 2009 LAWRENCE G. BROWN Acting United States Attorney By /s/ Kristin S. Door KRISTIN S. DOOR Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Plaintiff United States of America DANIEL J. BRODERICK Federal Defender

Dated: February 5, 2009

By

/s/ Timothy Zindel TIMOTHY ZINDEL Attorneys for claimant Reginald Bowers

Dated: February 9, 2009

/s/ James R. Greiner JAMES R. GREINER Attorney for claimant Dorothy Williams Attorneys for claimant (Original signature retained by Kristin S. Door)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: February 13, 2009

ORDER For the reasons set forth above, this matter is stayed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(g)(1) and 981(g)(2) for a period of six months. On or before August 3, 2009, the parties will advise A Scheduling

the court whether a further stay is necessary.

Conference is set for August 24, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

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