United States v. Peterson

In a forfeiture proceeding ancillary to a criminal conviction, the New York District Court in Manhattan upheld a Claimant’s property interests under Marvin v. Marvin, granting the criminal defendant’s domestic partner a community property interest in the home they shared in San Francisco.  In addition, in an unusual twist, the Court used the date of the issuance of the criminal defendant’s indictment as the date when the government’s interest in substitute assets vests.

Cuomo v. Levy, slip op., Indictment No. 17655/09 (Sup. Ct. Kings County Nov. 12, 2009) (Ingram, J.). In a case of first impression under CPLR Article 13-A, New York’s civil forfeiture statute, the Court quashed subpoenas – issued by the New York State Attorney General’s office as a matter of course – which were served on two forfeiture defendants on the ground that all discovery was stayed until the resolution of the parallel criminal proceedings.