APPEALS COURT RULES IN HOME SEIZURE CASE

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Federal law overrides an Oklahoma law that
exempts homes used in drug crimes from being taken by state
authorities, an appeals court ruled.

That means the federal government can take an Oklahoma home if its
owner is selling or possessing drugs.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled 3-0 Wednesday
that a federal law on property forfeiture preempts a state law that
prohibits home seizure.

The case began with Nanette Lees, a Wagoner grandmother who is
awaiting trial on a state charge of possessing Valium. Federal
authorities want to seize and sell her $136,000 home.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Epperley in Muskogee received approval
from a U.S. District Court jury and Judge Frank Seay for the federal
government to take ownership of Lees' home. She said the house was
used to facilitate a federal drug crime.

Police found a large quantity of Valium pills in a bag Lees had in
her home in 1999. They also found a gallon-sized bag of suspected
marijuana, a set of scales and suspected steroids, primarily in her
grandson's bedroom.

In the appeal, Lees claimed her property, a homestead, was not
subject to forfeiture because of Oklahoma law.

The court sided against Lees, but instructed Seay to make specific
findings about whether taking Lees' home would be an excessive
penalty, disproportionate to the gravity of the offense.

Epperley said she was confident that could be done.

Lees previously was on probation for possessing 33,600 Valium
tablets. She was arrested in 1998 at a border checkpoint near Laredo,
Texas.

Her grandson, Jade Lees, was arrested on a state drug charge in 1999
at the same time she was arrested at their home.