91 Wash. App. 320 | Wash. Ct. App. | 1997
— Under the drug forfeiture provisions of RCW 69.50, a hearing on the forfeiture of personal property must be commenced within a reasonable time after a claimant notifies the agency that has seized the property of a claim of ownership and right to possession. The applicable provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) require that hearing commence within 90 days, RCW 34.05.419, and further provide that the hearing commences when the agency or hearing officer notifies a party that some stage of the hearing will be conducted. We agree with the Superior Court that all these requirements were met in this case, and that they comport with the constitutional requisites of due process. Thus, we affirm.
Joel Rae sold cocaine to a police informant on October 19, 1994. He arrived at the sale location in his 1988 black Chevrolet Corvette. The car was seized on January 5, 1995, and on that date Rae was served with notice of intent to forfeit the vehicle under RCW 69.50.505. On January 11, 1995, he notified the sheriffs office of his claim of ownership and right to possession as required by RCW 69.50.505(e). Because Rae notified the seizing agency of his claim within 45 days of the seizure, he became entitled to a “reasonable opportunity to be heard as to the claim or right.” RCW 69.50.505(e). The matter was referred to a hearing examiner. See id. On March 30, 1995, 78 days after Rae’s request, the hearing examiner scheduled a prehearing conference for May 3, 1995. The full hearing was held on June 8, 1995, and the vehicle forfeited.
On appeal, Rae asserts that when a claimant properly requests a hearing on the forfeiture of personal property there is a 90-day time requirement for the commencement of the full adversarial hearing, that notice of a prehearing conference is not sufficient, and, therefore, he was not afforded a hearing in a timely manner. We disagree.
The APA, as do decisions of this court,
In United States v. Eight Thousand Eight Hundred & Fifty Dollars ($8,850) in United States Currency,
The United States Supreme Court analogized the length of time between a seizure and the initiation of the forfeiture hearing to the question of undue delay encompassed in the right to a speedy trial.
Here, the length of the delay, if any, was short, as the
On the facts of this case, the statutory procedures provided the requisite due process. But, this is not to say that other fact patterns might not give rise to a valid claim for more timely proceedings, or that the mere scheduling of a prehearing conference will indefinitely toll a claimant’s right to a timely hearing in accordance with the balancing test set forth above.
The trial court is affirmed.
Agid and Cox, JJ., concur.
After modification, further reconsideration denied June 4, 1998.
RCW 69.50.505(a)(1)-(8).
RCW 69.50.505(b)(1). There is an indication in the record that the seizure of the Corvette was invalid, but the court based its finding that the car is forfeitable solely on evidence obtained independent of the seizure. That decision is not challenged.
RCW 69.50.505(c).
RCW 69.50.505(d).
RCW 69.50.505(e).
Id.
Id.
Id.
See Espinoza v. City of Everett, 87 Wn. App. 857, 869, 943 P.2d 387 (1997); cf. City of Des Moines v. $81,231 in United States Currency, 87 Wn. App. 689, 943 P.2d 669 (1997) (dismissal not required if hearing timely scheduled and continuance justified as in any other civil proceeding).
Id. at 698-700.
United States v. Eight Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($8,850) in United States Currency, 461 U.S. 555, 103 S. Ct. 2005, 76 L. Ed. 2d 143 (1983).
Id. at 562.
Tellevik v. 31641 West Rutherford Street, 120 Wn.2d 68, 838 P.2d 111 (1992); Tellevik v. 31641 West Rutherford Street, 125 Wn.2d 364, 884 P.2d 1319 (1994).
United States v. $8,850, 461 U.S. at 564-66.