Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States – Third Edition, offers a comprehensive discussion on the recurring and evolving forfeiture issues that arise daily in federal practice. Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States is completely updated and virtually rewritten since its publication in 2016. Written by one of the federal government's leading experts on asset forfeiture law for over thirty years, and co-author of the highly regarded companion text, Federal Money Laundering.
The new third edition covers the myriad developments in federal asset forfeiture law that have taken place over the past decade, particularly in light of the flood of key judicial decisions such as Kaley v. United States, Luis v. United States and United States v. Honeycutt. Every section is up to date. The citations to older cases reflect the most current authority, and new issues that have arisen over the past several years are addressed, such as:
· The impact of Honeycutt on the ability of a court to hold criminal defendants jointly and severally liable for the forfeiture of the proceeds of a crime that they committed in concert with each other;
· The government’s ability to seize and restrain assets pre-trial and the rights of defendants and third parties to contest those actions in a prompt post-seizure or post-restraint probable cause hearing;
· The interplay of forfeiture and restitution and the courts’ resistance to allowing defendants to offset one against the other;
· The conflicting case law on the forfeiture of the gross proceeds of an offense versus the forfeiture of the defendant’s net profits;
· The rules subjecting civil and criminal forfeiture to the limitations of the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment;
· The procedure for contesting standing in a civil forfeiture case, the use of special interrogatories to test the claimant’s standing, and the consequences of a claimant’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment in response to all questions regarding his relationship to the property;
· The application of the Supreme Court’s decisions on the Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury on the determination of what property is subject to forfeiture and the Government’s burden of proof.
Altogether, the third edition of Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States, is a one-volume resource designed to lead practitioner, prosecutor, judge or policymaker through the labyrinth of statutes, rules and cases that govern this dynamic area of the law. It examines and explains in a concise, readable fashion the procedures that the government must follow in civil and criminal cases initiated by federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, IRS and Homeland Security; and discusses the defenses available to property owners -- giving its readers immediate entrée into the burgeoning body of jurisprudence in this ever-changing area of the law.
Because many countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as Australia and the Americas, have enacted asset forfeiture statutes modeled on U.S. law, the third edition’s explanation of the forfeiture law in the United States is relevant beyond the borders of the U.S. and is consulted by lawyers and governments worldwide. Preorder this long awaited, popular edition to ensure quickest availability.
Stefan D. Cassella, as a federal prosecutor, was one of the
federal government's leading experts on asset forfeiture law for over thirty
years, and now serves as an expert witness and consultant to law enforcement
agencies and the financial sector as the CEO of AssetForfeitureLaw, LLC. As a
Deputy Chief for the Justice Department's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering
Section and later as the Chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering
Section in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore, MD, he litigated some of
the government's most significant forfeiture and money laundering cases and
drafted many of the federal forfeiture and money laundering statutes. Mr.
Cassella handled the forfeiture in one of the largest forfeiture cases ever
brought by the United States—the forfeiture of $1.2 billion in assets from the
Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). He was the principal author
of much of the federal forfeiture legislation, including the Civil Asset
Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA), and the applicable sections of the
Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure. He is also the author of
numerous law review articles on asset forfeiture and money laundering. In the
1980s, Mr. Cassella was Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, reporting directly to then Senator Joe Biden.
He has a J.D. from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Science degree in
Applied Physics from Cornell University.
