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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 0-898 / 09-1283 Filed December 22, 2010

IN THE MATTER OF THE PROPERTY SEIZED FOR FORFEITURE FROM LUIS A. GUZMAN-PEREZ, LUIS A. GUZMAN-PEREZ, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Tama County, Sean W. McPartland, Judge.

Luis Guzman-Perez appeals an in rem forfeiture order. AFFIRMED.

Luis A. Guzman-Perez, Anamosa, pro se. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kyle Hanson, Assistant Attorney General, Brent D. Heeren, County Attorney, and Michael Marquess, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee State.

Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mansfield and Danilson, JJ. Tabor, J., takes no part.

2 MANSFIELD, J. Luis Guzman-Perez appeals a district court civil in rem forfeiture order under Iowa Code chapter 809A (2005). Guzman-Perez contends: (1) he should have been appointed a guardian ad litem, (2) his due process rights were violated because he was not properly served, (3) the forfeiture proceedings violated the Double Jeopardy Clause, and (4) the forfeiture constitutes an excessive fine. We affirm. I. Background Facts and Proceedings In October 2006, a 1998 Ford Expedition and two handguns were seized by the Tama County Sheriffs Department in relation to a murder investigation. The vehicle was registered to Luis Guzman-Perez, who would ultimately be convicted of a felony causing the death of another person.1 On December 21, 2006, a notice of seizure for forfeiture was personally served on Guzman-Perez. On January 2, 2007, an in rem forfeiture complaint was filed against the seized property and listed Guzman-Perez as the owner. The following day, Guzman-Perez was personally served notice of the complaint at the Tama County Jail. Guzman-Perez did not file a claim or an answer with the court after service of the notice or the complaint. On July 30, 2009, the State applied for a forfeiture order under Iowa Code section 809A.16(3). The district court subsequently granted the order. On August 19, 2009, Guzman-Perez filed

The State, without citing to the record, asserts that Guzman-Perez was convicted of second-degree murder. Guzman-Perez concedes that he was convicted of a crime, that he is currently incarcerated, and that his restitution obligation includes "funeral costs" and a $150,000 restitution fee. Based on the foregoing, we can safely assume Guzman-Perez was convicted of a felony causing the death of another person, see Iowa Code

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