Some years ago, a fellow called the former radio talk show “Car Talk” with an interesting question. He had purchased a used (and from the sound of it, fairly dilapidated) old Cadillac from his neighbor. The caller described his neighbor as appearing to be somewhat embarrassed by the sale, apparently thinking he had gotten the better of the deal by unloading his parents’ old car on a foolish buyer.
That is, until the caller was poking around in the car one day — and found $3,200 in small bills hidden in the trunk.
Before going further, for the uninitiated it should be explained that “Car Talk” was a long-running call-in show on National Public Radio hosted by two brothers, Tom and Ray Magliozzi. They stopped producing new shows in 2012, and older brother Tom died in November, 2014 aged 77 — but re-edited episodes live on, called “The Best of Car Talk.” (In fact, lately Ray has even taken to answering new calls occasionally by himself.) The lively, sometimes uproarious, banter between the two brothers was the most entertaining part of the show — Tom was known for his bellowing, infectious laugh, while Ray was more thoughtful (though still acerbic) and usually gave substantive answers to callers’ questions.
The caller who owned the Cadillac said that finding the money posed a “moral question” for him, leading him to call Tom and Ray. Should he tell the vehicle’s seller — because, clearly, the seller had no idea the money was there when he sold it.
Tom took a strong position that the money belonged to the buyer, declaring “He bought the car and everything in it!” Ray was a little more cautious, but also suggested that if $3,200 was hidden somewhere as obvious as inside the trunk, there might be $32,000 hidden under the upholstery of the back seat — undoubtedly sending the Cadillac buyer on an expedition with a razor knife.
The dilemma posed by this caller to “Car Talk” was actually played out some years ago in a federal court in Missouri — although it didn’t involve anything as paltry as $3,200. On February 15, 1996, a Missouri Highway Patrolman stopped a 1995 Volkswagen Golf for traffic violations. The patrolman became suspicious of both passengers, and after a consensual search he found fresh silicone on the undercarriage of the vehicle. He asked the occupants to permit the Highway Patrol garage to make a more thorough inspection, to which they agreed.
At the garage, the investigation disclosed that the battery case had been removed, and that $24,000 in cash had been hidden inside the battery; the cash bore a strong smell of methamphetamine. The vehicle and the money was eventually forfeited to the government as the proceeds from narcotics sales. In 1999, the Golf was sold to Helen and Jeffrey Chappell at an auction.
The car seemed to have a fuel problem, and the Chappells took it to their mechanic. He discovered bundles of currency floating in the gas tank, and reported it to the DEA, which once again tried to forfeit the money. The case ended up in federal court in the Western District of Missouri. The government, naturally, argued that it had not intended to sell the $82,000 in the tank as part of the sale, while the Chappells — echoing Tom Magliozzi — essentially argued that they bought the Golf “and everything in it.”
The court went through a lengthy explanation of Missouri’s law of property (which applied to the transaction). “Found” property can either have been lost, mislaid, or abandoned. It is “lost” if the owner parts with it unintentionally; it is “mislaid” if it was left intentionally, like a coat at a check room, but the owner forgot to retrieve it. Finally, it is “abandoned” if the original owner parted with it intending to give it up.
Lost and mislaid property belongs to the original owner and must be returned if the owner can be found. But in this case, the court concluded that the money was abandoned — the drug traffickers who hid the money undoubtedly were not making any claim to it. Once abandoned, “The currency went back into a state of nature analogous to wild animals” the court ruled — and then the first person to find the property becomes its new owner.
The court even discussed whether the Chappells or their mechanic might have the best claim to the funds. But the judge concluded that the mechanic, because he was working for the Chappells, did not have a claim and that therefore the $82,000 belonged to them.
So — indirectly at least — score one for the late Tom Magliozzi.
Frank Zotter, Jr. is a Ukiah attorney.
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