Waiting For The Return of Seized Items

[chuchin]

My son's computer and is brother's computer(he was his roommate at the time) were taken from their apartment by the county police as part of an investigation. My son is now on probation and it is more than a year since these computers and other items were taken. No child porn or any pornography at all were found on the computers. The videos and pictures they took had no significant evidence of wrong doing. Our lawyer has put in a request to have these items returned. Is there a specified amount of time that they can keep these items? I'd appreciate an answer.

[Litigator]

It varies but it sounds as though the lawyer has filed a motion and the usual next step is for a hearing to be held on whether the items should be returned unless the prosecutor agrees to the return in which case the court could enter an agreed to order returning the property. It is not unusual for these things to take some time--if the items are not contraband (and contraband would not be returned) they may be kept awhile as they may be needed for evidentiary reasons. The court usually has the final say as to whether and when such items will be returned but the attorney should be able to give you the status of the motion.

[jk]

good luck.

a friend shot an intruder to death (allowed under the circumstances) and his pistol was confiscated subsequent to the investigation. He was exonerated of all criminal actions.

The last I heard, 1 year later, he had still not recieved his pistol.

[cdwjava]

Until a court orders the release of the property, or the police agree to release the items on the DA's written statement, the police are likely to retain any and all items lawfully seized during the investigation.

- Carl

[chuchin]

I'm still at a loss as to why our lawyer doesn't tell us the procedure for the return of the items. He says he's working on it, whatever that means. Our older son, who was not involved in the case, had very expensive programs for his job on his computer, which they also confiscated, and is hoping to retrieve those programs soon. What do they do with all of the confiscated merchandise they don't return??

[cdwjava]

The items are either scrapped or sold at auction. Policy and practice would determine if the drives are wiped before re-sale or not. However, they aren't going to get rid of them until the matter is resolved and the items are no longer considered evidence for the trial or appeal.

- Carl

[chuchin]

Thanks for your information. It certainly enlightened me. The sentence has been given and probation started, so the items are no longer evidence. One of the computers never should have been taken. Needless to say, this whole experience has left a bitter taste. We have decided that those with the most money, win!

[cdwjava]

Well, until the prosecutor or the judge give the okay to release the property, the police may be reluctant to do so.

I recall one case where an agency I worked for had released an item after sentencing (with the permission of the DA) and the matter was later sent back for retrial. Needless to say, suddenly they needed the property for court and it was nowhere to be found. Fortunately they were able to point at the DA and say, "He did it."

So, until someone else is willing to give the word to let it go, it will likely remain where it is.

- Carl

[chuchin]

Finally spoke with our attorney and for the first tiime, he told us the computers might not be returned. He said it is at the discretion of the department to decide if it is contraband or not..Guess that means if someone likes what they see, it becomes contraband. There was nothing on the computer to make them consider it contraband. It was as if they were disappointed that they couldnt' find anything on it to use as evidence.

[jturner901]

Curiosity has got the best of me now. Your son is on probation, yet there was nothing on the computers. I'm only guessing that for him to be on probation, some evidence from somewhere had to be found to make a case against your son.