In a move that can’t help but make you start thinking of possible conspiracies, the Feds filed a motion to dismiss the asset forfeiture lawsuit against Timothy Durham.
The federal government on Monday morning filed papers to dismiss a high-profile civil lawsuit that sought to seize Tim Durham’s assets, including his 30,000-square-foot Geist mansion and his 2008 Bugatti sports car.
Tim Morrison, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said his office had filed the case Nov. 24 to ensure Durham’s assets would not disappear. “Having [received] appropriate assurance they are not being dissipated, that litigation stopped,” said Morrison, who declined to say who provided that assurance.
It obviously *looks* bad – lawsuit against well-connected defendant suddenly dropped – but, this was just a forfeiture case, and there is no telling what might be coming along in terms of a criminal case. I simply don’t know enough about forfeiture actions in this context to evaluate this development.
I just can’t imagine they filed that lawsuit without a very strong basis. And I can’t imagine the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreeing to diusmiss such a lawsuit because the tartget (or someone on his behalf) provides “assurances” that the assets will be protected.
One possible theory that seems credible on the surface is that it was agreed between the parties that the complaint was supposed to be under seal and the Clerk’s Office accidentally posted it on Pacer.
That sounds plausible, though I don’t think such a lawsuit would qualify to be placed under seal. I’ve seen that rule though bent before, at least in state court. Just because both sides want to proceed in private, the rules and the case law rarely allows you to proceed that way.
If there was a dismissal for that reason, then they could refile and put the new complaint under seal.
Another theory is that some powerful players behind the scenes started making calls this weekend and used leverage to get the dismissal. I hope agains hope that is not true.