Court Denies Motion to Dismiss in Tyrannosaurus Bataar Forfeiture Case

“The motion [to dismiss] is denied as moot,” wrote the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York in the case of United States v. One Tyrannosaurus Bataar Skeleton.

Courtesy US Homeland Security

Claimant Eric Prokopi argued in his motion to dismiss that the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s seizure and subsequent attempt to forfeit assembled dinosaur bones should be stopped because the government failed to allege a proper claim.  The court, in response, raised questions about the forfeiture action, but gave permission to federal attorneys to cure any legal problems in a new verified complaint.

The U.S. Attorney filed a First Amended Complaint on September 21, 2012. That complaint has yet to be emailed to the court for publication in the public record. Based on the filing of the new complaint, nevertheless, the court yesterday struck down the claimant’s request to dismiss the forfeiture case.

This post is researched, written, and published on the blog Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire at http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Text copyrighted 2012 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. CONTACT: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

©2010-2022 Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire. Content discussing cultural heritage law, art law, looted antiquities, stolen artifacts, and museum risk management that is general information only, not legal advice.