10TH CIRCUIT UPHOLDS SEIZURE OF RESIDENCE

DENVER -- The federal government can take an Oklahoman's home if the
residence is used in drug crimes although state law bars such action,
a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled 3-0 that a federal law on property forfeiture pre-empts
an Oklahoma law that exempts homes used in drug crimes from being
taken by state authorities.

The ruling came in the case of a Wagoner grandmother, Nanette Lees.
Federal authorities want to seize her $136,000 home and sell it. Lees
is awaiting trial on a state charge of possessing a controlled drug,
Valium, with the intent to distribute it.

While that case was pending in Wagoner County District Court, a
federal prosecutor in Muskogee got approval from a U.S. District
Court jury and Judge Frank Seay for the federal government to take
ownership of Lees' home. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Epperley
alleged in a civil forfeiture case the home had been used, or was
intended to be used, to commit or to facilitate a federal drug crime.

Police said they 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 Wednesday's ruling, the appeals court turned down three of Lees'
issues, including her contention that her property, being a
homestead, was not subject to forfeiture because of Oklahoma law.

The judges, however, left Lees with a ray of hope, reopening the case
on the basis of Lees' fourth issue. The higher court concluded Seay
did not make specific findings about whether the taking of Lees' home
would be an excessive penalty, disproportionate to the gravity of the
offense, as the judge was obligated to do.

The higher court instructed Seay to make those findings.

Lees already was on probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor
possession of 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 Nanette Lees was arrested at their home.

Lees and her attorney could not be reached for comment. Lees and her
grandson were not charged with federal crimes.