CALIFORNIA PALMS ADDICTION RECOVERY CAMPUS, INC.; SEBASTIAN RUCCI v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - Articles

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CALIFORNIA PALMS ADDICTION RECOVERY CAMPUS, INC.; SEBASTIAN RUCCI v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Nov 6, 2025

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ON BRIEF: Sebastian Rucci, LAW OFFICES OF SEBASTIAN RUCCI, P.C., Huntington Beach, California, for Appellant California Palms and in propria persona.

Attorneys 2: ON BRIEF: Rema A. Ina, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.

Judge(s): WHITE, STRANCH, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Youngstown

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. Following law enforcement’s seizure of funds in the amount of $603,902.89 from California Palms Addiction Recovery Campus, Inc., the facility and its owner brought a civil action seeking recovery of the funds and, in addition, disclosure of the affidavits on which the Government relied to secure warrants to seize the funds. While this litigation was pending, the Government moved for voluntary dismissal in a parallel forfeiture proceeding and voluntarily returned the funds to the Plaintiffs. The district court, acting sua sponte and citing the voluntary return of the funds, dismissed this case as moot, even though the Plaintiffs contended they still had a right to disclosure of the warrant affidavits. Because we find there is still a live case or controversy over the claim seeking disclosure of the affidavits, we VACATE IN PART the district court’s sua sponte dismissal and REMAND for further proceedings.

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