Heffner

William W. Dean, Jr. (Dean) and W.W. Dean Associates (the Dean Partnership) appeal the denial by the district court of their motion to dismiss their criminal indictment on the grounds of double jeopardy and estoppel. We affirm the holding of the district court that a prior civil proceeding by the Resolution Trust Corporation (the RTC) did not constitute a prosecution by the United States and so did not trigger the Double Jeopardy Clause. We dismiss for lack of jurisdiction the appeal as it relates to estoppel apart from the Double Jeopardy Clause.

FACTS

Understanding of a prior civil suit is necessary for evaluation of the appellants’ claim of double jeopardy. On October 25, 1991, the RTC became the receiver of Great American Bank (the Bank). In that capacity it inherited litigation involving Dean, a San Francisco real estate developer, and the Dean Partnership. The ease arose out of a development Dean had undertaken. The Bank’s real estate subsidiary, Great American Development Co. (GADCO), owned 1,285 acres in Temecula, California,, which it proposed to sell for development as a master plan community called Redhawk. In August, 1989, the Dean Partnership offered to purchase…