United States v. $80,180.00 in U.S. Currency

On November 9,1999, the United States filed a complaint for civil forfeiture of currency seized from the residence of appellants Alexandra Sandoval and Ramon Rios Milanez. See 21 U.S.C. § 881 (a)(6). On January 25, 2001, the district court granted the government’s motion for summary judgment, rejecting appellants’ claims to the property. Sandoval and Rios contend that this case should be remanded for reconsideration of the government’s summary judgment motion under the heightened burden of proof established by the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA). We hold that CAFRA’s heightened burden of proof applies to those judicial forfeiture proceedings in which the government files its complaint for civil forfeiture on or after CAFRA’s effective date, which is August 23, 2000. Because the government filed its complaint in this case prior to August 23, 2000, the heightened *1184 burden of proof does not apply. Accordingly, we reject appellants’ contention.

I.

Prior to the enactment of CAFRA, the allocation of the burden of proof in civil judicial forfeiture proceedings tilted heavily in the government’s favor. The government bore the minimal burden of…