130
Opinion of Stevens, J.
or not the text of the statute is sufficiently ambiguous to justify resort to the legislative history, equitable doctrines may foreclose the assertion of an innocent owner defense by a party with guilty knowledge of the tainted character of the property. In all events, we need not resolve this issue in this case; respondent has assumed the burden of convincing the trier of fact that she had no knowledge of the alleged source of Brenna's gift in 1982, when she received it.25 In
its order denying respondent's motion for summary judgment, the District Court assumed that respondent could prove what she had alleged, as did the Court of Appeals in allowing the interlocutory appeal from that order. We merely decide, as did both of those courts, whether her asserted defense was insufficient as a matter of law.26
At oral argument, the Government also suggested that the statutory reference to "all proceeds traceable to such an exchange" is subject to a narrowing construction that might avoid some of the harsh consequences suggested in the various amici briefs expressing concerns about the impact of the statute on real estate titles. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 5-10, 19- 25. If a house were received in exchange for a quantity of illegal substances and that house were in turn exchanged for another house, would the traceable proceeds consist of the first house, the second house, or both, with the Government having an election between the two? Questions of this char-ration as Amicus Curiae 11-12; Brief for American Land Title Association et al. as Amici Curiae 11-12; Brief for Dade County Tax Collector et al. as Amici Curiae 16-17.
25 "The statute should be read to require that the owner assert his lack of knowledge of the criminal transaction at the time of the transfer. Since Goodwin did not have any knowledge of the alleged criminal transaction until long after the transfer, she should be protected by the innocent owner clause." Brief for Respondent 37-38.
26 If she can show that she was unaware of the illegal source of the funds at the time Brenna transferred them to her, then she was necessarily unaware that they were the profits of an illegal transaction at the time of the transaction itself.
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