Due Process Violation – Property Interests

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. John E. Henricks, III

Case No.: 17-2383

Officials: FLAUM, EASTERBROOK, and MANION, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Due Process Violation – Property Interests

John Henricks (Henricks) pleaded guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced to imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution. Henricks’s wife, Catherine, (Ms. Henricks) entered an appearance as an interested person in Henricks’s criminal case. The district court determined the parties’ interests in various property so that Henricks’s property could be directed toward restitution to his victims. Ms. Henricks appeals, arguing that the district court did not have jurisdiction to decide the parties’ property interests in Henricks’s criminal case, violated her due process rights by not allowing her an opportunity to present her case, and improperly determined the parties’ interests in particular property. In so far as the district court had jurisdiction to determine the parties’ property interests in the criminal case and did not violate Ms. Henricks’s due process rights, we affirm. However, because the district court relied upon post‐judgment conduct instead of determining the parties’ property interests as of the date of the judgment lien, we vacate the district court’s property‐interest determination and remand for further proceedings.

Vacated and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.