USA v. Real Property Located at 24545 N. Suttenfield Road, Acampo, CA

Filing 38

STIPULATION and ORDER signed by Judge William B. Shubb on 9/8/09 ORDERING that this matter is stayed for a period of 6 months. The status conference scheduled for 9/21/09 is Vacated and Rescheduled to 3/22/10 at 2:00 p.m. The parties shall file a joint status report by 3/8/10. (Becknal, R)

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

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

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) REAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 24545 N. ) SUTTENFIELD ROAD, ACAMPO, ) CALIFORNIA, SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, ) APN: 021-042-16, ) ) Defendant. ) ___________________________________) ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) APPROXIMATELY $26,395.00 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY, ) ) APPROXIMATELY $10,880.00 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY, ) ) APPROXIMATELY $5,000.00 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY, ) ) APPROXIMATELY $9,932.73 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY SEIZED FROM WASHINGTON ) MUTUAL BANK, CD, ACCOUNT NUMBER ) 09414284883, ) )

2:07-cv-02114 WBS/KJM STIPULATION TO EXTEND STAY AND ORDER THEREON [PROPOSED] DATE: September 21, 2009 TIME: 2:00 p.m. COURTROOM: 5

2:08-cv-00577 WBS/KJM

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APPROXIMATELY $9,966.82 IN U.S. CURRENCY SEIZED FROM WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER 093400000117054,

) ) ) ) ) APPROXIMATELY $26,712.81 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY SEIZED FROM WASHINGTON ) MUTUAL BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER ) 093400000117020, ) ) APPROXIMATELY $2,976.06 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY SEIZED FROM WASHINGTON ) MUTUAL BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER ) 009300008192250, ) ) APPROXIMATELY $413.67 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY SEIZED FROM WELLS FARGO ) ACCOUNT NUMBER 056-4346773, and ) ) MISCELLANEOUS GROW EQUIPMENT, ) ) Defendants. ) ___________________________________) Plaintiff United States of America, and Claimants William Pearce (a claimant in both cases) and Kristin Burckard (a claimant only in the N. Suttenfield Road case), and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.,1 (a claimant/lienholder in the N. Suttenfield Road case) by and through their respective counsel, hereby stipulate that a stay is necessary in the above-entitled actions, and request that the Court enter an order staying all further proceedings for an additional six months pending the outcome of a related criminal investigation against Claimants. 1. On October 5, 2007, plaintiff filed a complaint for forfeiture
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in rem against the N. Suttenfield Road property Pearce and Kristin Burckard.

owned by William H.

On March 13, 2008, plaintiff filed a

complaint for forfeiture in rem against the defendant currency and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., acquired certain assets and liabilities of claimant Washington Mutual Bank from the FDIC acting as a receiver.
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The plaintiff also filed a complaint against property on Blizzard Mine Road owned by claimant Pearce but that case was dismissed earlier due to a decline in equity in the property. -2-

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equipment.

Claimant Pearce has filed claims in both actions, and has Claimant Kristin Burckard

filed answers to the plaintiff's complaints.

has filed a claim to the N. Suttenfield Road property and has filed an answer to the complaint. 2. The stay is requested pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(g)(1) and With respect to the N. Suttenfield property, the plaintiff

981(g)(2).

contends that proceeds from marijuana trafficking were used to pay down a line of credit against the property, and that the defendant property is therefore forfeitable to the United States pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(6). As an alternate theory the plaintiff alleges that the

property was involved in a money laundering transaction (the use of the proceeds of a "specified unlawful activity" (drug trafficking) to pay off part of a lien against the property) and is therefore forfeitable pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(A) for violations of the money 1957. With respect to the second

laundering statute, 18 U.S.C. §

case, the plaintiff alleges that the currency is forfeitable because it is the proceeds of drug trafficking. The property described as

"miscellaneous grow equipment" is forfeitable pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(9) because it was used to grow marijuana. 3. The criminal investigation that led to these civil forfeiture

actions has been slowed considerably by factors outside the government's control. During the searches in the fall of 2007, federal Due to the

agents seized seven computers owned by claimant Pearce.

complex passwords on the computers, it took forensic computer experts months to break the passwords and gain access to the data on the hard drives. During a search of the hard drive agents encountered documents

that were potentially privileged as attorney-client communications. Accordingly, an IRS agent unconnected with the investigations reviewed -3-

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all the documents on the computers and made a preliminary determination as to which documents were potentially privileged. Those documents

were reviewed by an Assistant U.S. Attorney unconnected with the criminal investigation and only the non-privileged documents were provided to the law enforcement agents for their review. This review

has been very time-consuming since seven computers are involved. 4. Because of the delays in gaining access to the data on the

computers, to date claimants have not been charged with any criminal offense by state, local, or federal authorities, and the statute of limitations has not expired on potential criminal charges relating to the drug trafficking offenses underlying the forfeiture cases. Nevertheless, the plaintiff intends to depose claimants regarding their involvement in marijuana trafficking; their use of drug proceeds to pay off lines of credit against the property; and the cultivation of marijuana at the Blizzard Mine Road property. (The forfeiture action

against the Blizzard Mine property was dismissed for the reasons set forth in footnote 2.) If discovery proceeds at this time, claimants

will be placed in the difficult position of either invoking their Fifth Amendment right 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 a deposition and potentially incriminating themselves. If they invoke their Fifth Amendment rights,

the plaintiff will be deprived of the ability to explore the factual basis for the claims each filed with this court. 5. In addition, claimants intend to depose the law enforcement Allowing depositions of the

officers involved in this investigation.

law enforcement officers at this time would adversely affect the ability of federal authorities to investigate the underlying criminal -4-

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conduct. 6. The parties recognize that proceeding with this action at

this time has potential adverse affects on the investigation of the underlying criminal conduct and/or upon claimant's ability to prove his claim to the property and assert any defenses to forfeiture. For these

reasons, the parties jointly request that this matter be stayed an additional six months. At that time the parties will advise the court

of the status of the criminal investigation, if any, and will advise the court whether a further stay is necessary. 7. The parties request that the status conference currently

scheduled for September 21, 2009, be vacated and rescheduled to sometime in March, 2010. Dated: September 8, 2009 By LAWRENCE G. BROWN United States Attorney /s/ Kristin S. Door KRISTIN S. DOOR Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Plaintiff United States of America DANIEL J. BRODERICK Federal Defender By /s/ Timothy Zindel TIMOTHY ZINDEL Assistant Federal Defender Attorney for claimant William Pearce /s/ Krista Hart KRISTA HART Attorney for claimant Kristin Burckard

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(Original signatures and/or written consent to sign attorney's electronic signature retained by AUSA Door)

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Dated: September 8, 2009

/s/ Scott J. Stilman SCOTT J. STILMAN Attorney for claimant JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., an acquirer of certain assets and liabilities of Washington Mutual Bank from the FDIC acting as receiver

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. The

status conference scheduled for September 21, 2009 is vacated and will be rescheduled to March 22, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. The parties shall file a

joint status report by March 8, 2010 advising the court whether a further stay is necessary or addressing the matters in the March 14, 2008, Order Requiring Joint Status Report. The parties should not

assume that the court will automatically continue to stay this action until the criminal investigation and any prosecutions resulting therefrom are completed. Such a continuance could result in postponing

this action beyond the acceptable three year period, and even after the criminal investigation the government cannot be assured that potential defendants will not assert the privilege against self incrimination. IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated:

September 8, 2009

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