Town of Jupiter v. Garcia

WARNER, Judge.

The Town of Jupiter appeals the trial court’s dismissal of its forfeiture complaint in which it sought to forfeit appellee’s truck because appellee was found with an illegal sawed-off short-barreled shot gun in it. In dismissing the complaint, the trial court relied on Austin v. United States, 509 U.S. 602, 113 S.Ct. 2801, 125 L.Ed.2d 488 (1993), as interpreted in United States v. Ursery, 59 F.3d 568 (6th Cir.1995), to hold that the forfeiture after appellee’s conviction for possession of the gun was a violation of double jeopardy. This interpretation of Austin was rejected by…