We seized about 33 acres of land after marijuana was found to be growing on the property. Father and two sons were running the little farm. Dad was doing most of the drying and packaging in the second floor of his house. The owner of the land quitclaim deeded the property to some guy in Colorado prior to the filing of the forfeiture petition and now the attorney for the guy in Colorado has served me with all this civil discovery stuff I hate. The gist of his interrogatories and answer are that only a few acres of this land was actually used to grow the marijuana therefore that is all that should be forfeited if any. Anyone have any experience in this area? I don't think you can do that. It would be like having a meth lab in your extra bedroom and therefore you can only forfeit that room and not the rest of the house. Any thoughts out there?

This may or may not help your situation, but a quitclaim "deed" does not convey an interest in property, it merely "quits" any claim that the person has in the property. Thus, this guy in Colorado may not have any justiciable interest in the case. Thus, you may need a motion challenging standing.

I have gone so far as to name three contiguous lots (acquired at different times) as "the property" being used. But, I would certainly argue that the description chosen by the owner in his document of title is binding upon him. I do not believe there is any Texas case law on this subject, but no doubt it has been dealt with in other jurisdictions. I would certainly argue that the attempted conveyance (if it is one) is fraudulent so that the State's claim reaches the property in the hands of the transferee. If the interest of an innocent owner can be forfeited, then surely the interest of a subsequent transferee can be seized and forfeited.

Assuming the Quitclaim deed has been recorded (it should have been), you should be able to rely on the legal description used in the deed. If the deed indicates 3 separate tracts, then you could potentially have a problem. More likely, the deed describes the land as a tract of land containing 33 acres more or less, beginning at a point.... You might try searching for cases using carving, partial, or segregated along with a term like chapter 59 or forfeiture. Good Luck

While the federal statute reads a little differently, the deed description establishes the extent of the property subject to forfeiture under it. See Smith, 966 F.2d at 1053; Santoro, 866 F.2d at 1543; 107.9 Acres, 898 F.2d at 400.