In United States v. Wright, --- F.4th ---, No. 19-10302 (9th Cir. 2022), the Court affirmed the district court’s orders with respect to Brian Wright’s claim in proceedings under Fed. R. Crim. P. 41(g) for the return of money seized from him in 2014 and 2017. The Court held that neither Wright nor the government has established a right to the money.
"We hold that neither party has established its right to the money. Wright is correct that, as the person who last held the cash before it was seized, he was presumptively entitled to its return. But the district court properly found that this presumption was rebutted by the considerable evidence demonstrating that the money was stolen. We affirm the district court’s orders with respect to Wright’s claim to the money."
"At the same time, we hold that the government has not established its ownership of the money. Congress has enacted a detailed statutory forfeiture scheme through which the government may establish title in seized property. For reasons the government has struggled to articulate, it never invoked this scheme. We decline to permit the government to sidestep the forfeiture statutes, and their accompanying procedural protections, by way of a Rule 41(g) proceeding. Due to its various procedural errors, the government has not perfected title in the money and, unfortunately, Wright’s victims must continue to await compensation."
