An innocent owner defense is a concept in United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 providing for an affirmative defense

Affirmative defense

A defendant offers an affirmative defense when responding to a plaintiff's claim in common law jurisdictions, or, more familiarly, in criminal law. Essentially, the defendant affirms that the condition is occurring or has occurred but offers a defense that bars, or prevents, the plaintiff's claim. ...

 that applies when an owner claims that they are innocent of a crime and therefore their property should not be forfeited. It is defined in section 983(d) of title 18 of the United States Code

United States Code

The Code of Laws of the United States of America is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States...

  and is part of the Code that defines forfeiture

Asset forfeiture

Asset forfeiture is confiscation, by the State, of assets which are either the alleged proceeds of crime or the alleged instrumentalities of crime, and more recently, alleged terrorism. Instrumentalities of crime are property that was allegedly used to facilitate crime, for example cars...

 laws and more specifically the general rules for civil forfeiture proceedings. It states that the "claimant shall have the burden of proving that the claimant is an innocent owner by a preponderance of the evidence".