Lauderdale Investments, Inc. v. Miller

COBB, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from a final judgment of forfeiture of a plane, based upon the trial court’s finding that it was used to transport drugs. See § 932.702, Fla.Stat. (1981). The owner of the plane at the time of the offense, David Jern, did not contest the forfeiture action brought by the Sheriff of Brevard County. The action was contested, however, by Lauderdale Investments, Inc., a corporation wholly owned by attorney David Hoines, which claimed that Jern had assigned the plane to Hoines as a legal fee, and that subsequently Hoines assigned it to the corporation.

The trial…