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Date: 05-09-2022
Case Style:
Case Number: 2:19-cv-00308-SAB
Judge: Stanley A Bastian
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington (Spokane County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: Breean Beggs, Mark Harris and Morgan Maxey
Defendant's Attorney: Alicia Orlena Young and Katie Merrill
Description: Spokane, Washington personal injury lawyers represented Plaintiffs, who sued Defendants on civil rights violation theories under 42 U.S.C. 1983 seeking $350,000 in damages.
This case was initially filed in the Spokane County Superior Court, 19-00002-02761-32
9CCA, 21-35182, and was removed to federal court by the Defendant.
After the Spokane County prosecutor filed charges
against plaintiffs pursuant to Wash. Rev. Code § 77.15.265,
plaintiffs entered into a Stipulation to Police Reports and
Order of Continuance (“SOC”), which provided that the
charges would be dismissed if plaintiffs complied with
certain terms, including waiving the right to contest the
evidence against them. Under Washington’s wildlife
forfeiture statute, the entry of an SOC also resulted in the
forfeiture of the wildlife and animal parts at issue. Plaintiffs
successfully completed their SOCs, and the charges against
them were dismissed. They brought suit alleging that the
forfeiture and transfer of their property to Canada, without
notice or a hearing, functionally destroyed their property
interests, thus depriving them of due process. The district
court rejected plaintiffs’ arguments that the automatic
forfeiture statute was unconstitutional as applied to wildlife
taken outside of Washington or that the statute
unconstitutionally deprived plaintiffs of property without
notice of a hearing.
Outcome: Judgment in favor of Defendants. Affirmed on appeal.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: