Cultural Property Cases Roundup – Khouli et al., Sandstone Cambodian Sculpture, Weiss, and ACCG Appeal [UPDATED]
The case of U.S. v. Khouli et al. saw the submission of legal memoranda by defendants Joseph Lewis, II and Salem Alshdaifat urging the court to dismiss the criminal charges against them. A grand jury alleges that the pair had roles in trafficking antiquities. Lewis and Alshdaifait vigorously deny the charges. A third co-defendant, Mousa Khouli pleaded guilty in April 2012.
On September 18, 2012 the eastern federal district court in New York ruled on Lewis’ arguments. Judge Edward R. Korman denied the Motion to Dismiss but the omnibus motions remain. The court on September 10, meanwhile, granted Alshdaifat’s request to travel to England to meet with overseas business partners and to attend the Coinex London 2012 numismatics show. The prosecution objected to the request. According to Alshdaifat’s lawyer in a September 5 letter to the court, Alshdaifat “has a joint venture with a business in London, called Roma Numismatics.” It appears, however, that the joint venture is actually Athena Numismatics Ltd., which is listed on VCoins.
In the southern district New York federal court, Sotheby’s and Ms. Ruspoli di Poggio Suausa filed a reply memorandum on September 17 to bolster their June 5, 2012 motion arguing that the government cannot forfeit a statute in the case of United States Of America v. A 10th Century Cambodian Sandstone Sculpture, Currently Located at Sotheby’s. The claimants’ reply brief was filed in response to the government’s pleading submitted last month.
New York state court, meanwhile, scheduled the case against Arnold Peter Weiss for sentencing on September 17. Weiss pleaded guilty in July to attempted criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree. Terms of his sentence, pursuant to the plea agreement, are outlined here. As part of the sentence, Weiss published an essay titled “Caveat Emptor: A Guide to Responsible Coin Collecting” in American Numismatic Society Magazine.
In Virginia, oral argument in the fourth circuit court of appeals took place on September 19 before judges J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, Stephanie D. Thacker and Michael F. Urbanski in the case of Ancient Coin Collectors Guild v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Department of State; Assistant Secretary of State, Educational and Cultural Affairs. The ACCG appealed their August 2011 loss in the lower federal district court in Baltimore. The organization submitted its written arguments in October 2011, and the federal government replied in January 2012.
The attorneys’ oral arguments in the ACCG case can be heard in their entirety here. In sum, Judge Wilkinson appeared unwilling to involve the judiciary in foreign affairs decisions of the executive branch, which can be overseen by the legislative branch. He had apparent trouble finding that the U.S. State Department acted arbitrarily or capriciously when implementing import controls over ancient coins under the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA). “Why should we jump into this and make it a tri-cornered mess,” asked the court in its apprehension of being drawn into a matter that involves the two other branches of government.
The court appeared to believe that there is a “slight burden” placed on the importer–not on the government–to show where ancient Chinese and Cypriot coins have been in the past few years; the inquiry is not where the coins have traveled in ancient times. And this burden, which is “not a huge hurdle to surmount,”should be placed on importers because importers have the most knowledge.
[Hat tip to Nathan Elkins for highlighting the Weiss article in ANS Magazine].
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