DANIELA BOTTINI, ET AL. v. DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND
Court of Appeals, Watts, Oct. 7, 2016,
Forfeiture – Funds contained in a bank account are “money” for purposes of the forfeiture statute under CP 101(m)(1)(iv)

Dissent – Adkins- The bank account seized was an intangible personal property right, and filing for forfeiture should have occurred within 90 days of seizure

As noted in dissent, this case presents the interesting situation of the Court holding that a defined term means one thing in one portion of a statutory framework (physical currency in CP 12-202 where it must be photographed) and something else in another portion (money as wealth generally here in CP 12-304). Normally the same term is construed consistently throughout a statutory framework such as forfeiture.

On April 13, 2012, police arrested suspect for CDS. On April 16, he withdrew $64,388.33 from his bank account and $64,388.33 was deposited in his sister’s account the same day at the same time.
On May 10, 2013, suspect was convicted of PWID. On August 1, 2013, a petition to forfeit the $64,388.33 was filed.

CP 12-304 sets the deadline for forfeiture filings as the earlier of: 90 days after seizure OR 1 year after final disposition of criminal charges.
HOWEVER, for money the deadline is set at 90 days after final disposition of criminal proceedings that arise out of CDS law.