The court of appeals reversed a judgment. The court held that the district court, upon finding a disputed issue of fact as to whether the owner of property received actual notice of forfeiture proceedings, erred in converting the owner’s motion for return of seized property into a summary judgment motion.
In December 1999, a task force of state and federal law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Tamer Ibrahim’s (“Tamer”) apartment in Los Angeles, California. Tamer was suspected in a wide-ranging conspiracy to import and traffic the drug commonly known as ecstasy. During the search of Tamer’s apartment, officers seized a total of $488,970.00 in U.S. currency.
