United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Glen Charles Starkweather, Defendant-appellant, 78 F.3d 596 (9th Cir. 1996)

MEMORANDUM^** 

Glen Charles Starkweather appeals the district court's order denying his motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate his conviction and sentence on double jeopardy grounds. We have jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

The timing of the criminal and civil proceedings in this case eliminates any double jeopardy concern. Jeopardy ordinarily attaches in a criminal case when the court accepts the defendant's guilty plea. United States v. Smith, 912 F.2d 322, 324 (9th Cir. 1990). Starkweather entered his guilty plea, and the district court accepted it, on July 8, 1991. Jeopardy attaches in a civil forfeiture proceeding, if at all, "no earlier than the date on which the defendant filed an answer to the forfeiture complaint." United States v. Kearns, 61 F.3d 1422, 1428 (9th Cir. 1995); see also United States v. Barton, 46 F.3d 51, 52 (9th Cir. 1995). It follows that jeopardy does not attach, as Starkweather urges, when the property is first seized, even if unlawfully. Starkweather filed his answer to the government's civil forfeiture complaint on September 30, 1991. Accordingly, because "jeopardy attached first in [Starkweather's] criminal proceeding, that proceeding did not violate the double jeopardy clause and [his] criminal conviction must stand." United States v. Faber, 57 F.3d 873, 874-75 (9th Cir. 1995).

AFFIRMED.