United States v. 14301 Gateway Boulevard West

The district court relied on the “fugitive disentitlement” doctrine to strike Eduardo Gonzalez Quirarte’s and Laura Patricia Gonzalez’s (“the claimants”) claim and answer regarding the forfeiture of the respondent property. The Supreme Court has since held that the “fugitive disentitlement” doctrine does not permit a district court to enter summary judgment in favor of the government in a civil forfeiture case based on a claimant’s fugitive status. See Degen v. United States, — U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 1777, 135 L.Ed.2d 102 (1996). Thus, the claimants urge us to reverse the district court’s…