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Forfeiture – Procedural requirements
Where a judge issued a forfeiture decree for property seized pursuant to a search warrant, the judge was required to follow the procedural requirements set forth in G.L.c. 276, §§4-8.
SJC restricts judiciary’s forfeiture power
A Superior Court judge could not order the forfeiture of property seized pursuant to a search warrant without following the procedural requirements set forth in G.L.c. 276, §§4 to 8, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled.
Forfeiture – Due process – Constructive trust
Where a third-party petition has been filed seeking the return of $1 million from a bank account that was the subject of a forfeiture proceeding in connection with a criminal prosecution, the petitioner is entitled to the return of the funds under 18 U.S.C. §1963 and 18 U.S.C. §982(a)(1).
Forfeiture – Commercial fishing – Aboriginal rights
Where the commonwealth brought an action for the forfeiture of the proceeds of the sale of oysters that were harvested on a day that commercial fishing was not authorized, a judgment in favor of the commonwealth should be upheld because the person who harvested the oysters was engaged in commercial shell fishing activity and was not acting as an individual exercising his aboriginal right to hunt a[...]
Forfeiture – Sovereign immunity
Where plaintiffs whose Massachusetts drug convictions have been vacated and dismissed but whose forfeited property has not been returned to them have brought a putative class action, the complaint must be dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds to the extent that the plaintiffs are requesting monetary relief from the state treasury, but their claims for prospective, procedural injunctive relief ar[...]
Forfeiture – Nominee trust – Property interest
Where (1) a defendant pleaded guilty and (2) an order of forfeiture was entered concerning real property held by a trust, a challenge to the forfeiture order should be rejected because a reasonable factfinder could only conclude that the trust is a nominee trust, so the defendant has a forfeitable interest in the real property equal to his one-third interest in that trust.
Forfeiture – Innocent owner exception – Vehicle
Where a vehicle has become the subject of a forfeiture proceeding based on evidence that the owner’s son used the vehicle for selling drugs illegally, the vehicle must be returned […]
Criminal – Forfeiture – Uncharged conduct – Sentencing
Where a jury found a defendant guilty on eight of the 18 counts in an indictment (wire fraud, bank fraud and unlawful monetary transaction), a sentence of 150 months and […]
Forfeiture – Claim of ownership – Oath
Where the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) rejected both of the pro se claimant’s attempts to file a sworn claim of ownership to a seized 2006 Land Rover Range Rover vehicle […]
Forfeiture – Lis pendens – Substitute asset
Where the government, having indicted a defendant for conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, seeks to record a lis pendens against a Rehoboth property to […]
Forfeiture – Standing
Where a judge found that a claimant lacked standing to challenge the forfeiture of more than $8 million in U.S. currency, the judge's ruling must be reversed with respect to $10,000 seized from the claimant's person.
Forfeiture – Notice – Seizure
Where movants have requested the return of property seized by the government, the request must be denied despite the movants' assertion that the government violated its statutory duty to provide them with notice within 60 days.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
