United States v. Rudolph Henderson

The government appeals an order by the district court exempting “reasonable attorneys’ fees” from those assets which may be seized by the government pursuant to the civil forfeiture provisions of 21 U.S.C. § 881 . The district court held the statute unconstitutional as applied to reasonable attorneys’ fees. For the reasons set forth below, we dismiss this appeal.

BACKGROUND

On May 31, 1987, defendant Rudolph Henderson was arrested with several others on allegations of participation in an extensive conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Henderson was arraigned on June 8, 1987, and is currently being detained. At the time of the defendants’ arrest, the government served a number of search and seizure warrants throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Three residences, 25 vehicles, and $325,000 in cash have since been seized. On June 12, 1987, the government filed complaints for forfeiture under 21 U.S.C. § 881 (a)(6) and (7), asserting that the seized assets are traceable to Rudolph Henderson’s alleged drug trafficking activities.

Defendant moved for the exemption of reasonable attorneys’ fees from the seized assets. The district court agreed with defendant’s contention that the…