Eames
United States v. Eames
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Larry Eames, federal prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for return of property. See Fed R. Crim. P. 41(e). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we remand the matter to the district court for resolution. As the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we do not recount it here except as is necessary to explain our decision.
The government never responded to Eames’ Rule 41(e) motion for return of property, and, more importantly, the district court never ruled on it. There are no findings on whether the property claimed by Eames is part of the forfeiture agreement he signed with the government, or what, if any, legal rights the government may have in the property. Indeed, the excerpt submitted by Eames does not even contain a copy of the forfeiture agreement. Given these deficiencies, the record before us is inadequate for a proper disposition of Eames’ appeal. See Assoc. of Mexican-Am. Educators v. California, 231 F.3d 572 , 614 n. 9 (9th Cir.2000) (Tashima, J., dissenting) (collecting cases in which we have remanded for greater development of the record).