Confiscation after a shooting?

[Trailryder50]

So tell me, if I were to have to use my weapon in a self defensive situation of myself or others and it was found to be justified, would I lose my weapon to the black hole of the "evidence" room, never to be seen again or returned?

 

[armorer951]

Your weapon would be recovered as evidence and likely submitted for ballistics testing and examination. The gun would be returned, subsequent to the case being ajudicated, and you vindicated. Or.....if the incident was not chargeable, when the case was resolved/closed by the coroner/prosecutor.

 

[TomkinsSP]

I would work with the assumption: yes.

For that reason I would not use an irreplaceable firearm as EDC.

In reality it depends on your zip code, the local court/police policy, whether the gun is held as evidence, in a clean shoot you SHOULD eventually get it back, or your heirs should. I know of folks who wouldn't spend $300 to get thier $200 gun back, I would just on principle.

 

[cgt4570]

Depends on the state and circumstances. It would probably be held as evidence until the case is closed or a formal decision is made to not press charges against the good guy. I would imagine that the less conservative big city DA's would take longer to clear things up. If there is a civil suit brought by the family of the bad guy, that could again place it into the evidence category. Very few self defense situations are going to be cut and dry with bullet proof witnesses for the good guy. If it's an armed stranger breaking into your house, that's about as straight forward as it gets. If you are in public, it will be a much different case.

 

[Rpg]

Depends on the facts of the case, the posture (was there a trial or just a determination not to bring charges) as well as the jurisdiction.

More likely than not, at a minimum you'd have to take some action to get your gun back. That could range from simply asking for it to getting a court order.

Keep in mind that cases can be reopened based on new evidence or even a change in prosecuting attorney.

Police property rooms are full of stuff: giving it back is a low priority.

 

[cadmike]

Ask your attorney.

That would be way down on my list of concerns.

 

[Doug M.]

"Confiscation" is not the term I would use. It would likely be seized and held as evidence until the matter was resolved, even though any sound analysis of the evidence rules shows that almost never is the firearm actually evidence. Member Nyeti has written a good description of why the position that the firearm is evidence is simply wrong, based on his many years of experience in investigating OIS. After I read it some years back on the old 10-8 forum, I gave the Evidence Rules a good read and consideration and concluded he was right. He used to do a full armorer inspection and clean the pistol have it back to the officer in hours - and correctly so. Trying to overcome Tevye's law (tradition!)is a real bear.

 

[Trailryder50]

I know of folks who wouldn't spend $300 to get thier $200 gun back, I would just on principle.

So one has to pay to get their own 'seized for evidence in a justified shooting' weapon back? What BS.

 

[Kiwi cop]

A number of years ago there was an officer involved fatal shooting in the district where I worked. Three enquirers cleared the officer of any wrongdoing, including an Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation, plus a fourth public investigation, the Coroners enquirery.

Then the family took a private prosecution against the officer for murder. Thenofgicrr was acquitted in court. The Glock 17 used in the shooting, which had been in police evidence for several years at that point, was placed into the Court safe as an exhibit during the trial. Because the family intended to appeal the verdict the pistol stayed in the custody of the court.

Several years after the private prosecution a second Police G17, which had also been in the custody of the same court, was recovered from a drug dealer. When the matter was investigated it was found that both Glocks had been stolen by persons unknown from the Court safe.

 

[ColbyBruce]

My story

My home was burglarized on 2/23/11. A Glock 31 was the only firearm taken. It was recovered in the fall of 2011, thrown from a car window during a chase of suspects in a home invasion in a neighboring county. My Glock was held as evidence for THAT trial; the suspects were never charged in my case. Four defendants took a plea deal, two went to trial. My Glock was held until the trial, when it was transferred to the courthouse property room. The two defendants were convicted in early 2014 but automatically got to appeal. My gun was held. During the appeal, the appellate attorney was fired and a new firm hired. The appeal process started over, finally ended in March 2015. BUT, the final attorney wanted the evidence photographed and fingerprinted before it was returned.

Nobody was in a hurry to get this done. I stayed on everyone in the DA's office about it. May 8, 2015 I got a call from an ADA who told me he personally was handling the return of the gun and it was ready. I had to be run through the computer before it was given back to me. I ran out of the police station with it. Here it is.

 

[TomkinsSP]

So one has to pay to get their own 'seized for evidence in a justified shooting' weapon back? What BS.

Most lawyers charge for thier time by the hour. So time they spend recovering your weapon is an additional cost. Sometimes there are court costs associated with filing motions. I know of one department that charged someone a small fee to run a NICS check before releasing a gun.

 

[Rastoff]

As long as people are involved, there will be no clear cut answer.

I know of one case where the gun was seized as part of the initial investigation, but returned to the owner, with the ammo, 2 weeks later.

I know of another case where a guy was pulled over for a traffic stop and had his gun seized never to see it again.

Will your gun disappear into the evidence black hole? Maybe. Does it really matter though? I mean, you're alive to tell the tale. Without the gun you wouldn't be (or you wouldn't have needed the gun) and that's enough for me. Getting the gun back is a secondary concern.

 

[ColbyBruce]

As my agent explained to me

State Farm Ins. does not recover firearms, other than a large collection or a store full. In such cases, a dealer will be contracted to do so. State Farm employees do not do that, nor do they transport firearms in a company vehicle.

I was given a letter by my State Farm claim rep stating I could pick the firearm up on their behalf and make reimbursement for said firearm. I gave a copy of this letter to the property room manager and it was placed in the evidence box along with my Glock 31. I saw the letter with the gun in the courtroom when I had to identify it and confirm that it was stolen from me.

In conclusion, as it had been four years and a few months since we were burgled, the case rep had been retred for two years, and my agent did not want the Glock in his office; I was told to take it home and enjoy it.

 

[sigp220.45]

As the investigating agent on a large number of shootings, here's my take from the Federal side.

Your gun will be taken as evidence.

If you are charged, it will be held for trial.

If you plead, it will get destroyed (more on this later, though).

If you aren't charged, it will be returned.

If you are charged and convicted, it will be held for the inevitable appeal, then destroyed.

If you are tried and acquitted, it will be returned.

I took a nice 4506 from a guy who got fired from his job at an armored car company that serviced ATMs. The day after he got fired, he went ahead and serviced a bunch of ATMs, including the one in my little Montana town. The convenience store owner thought it was odd he was putting money from the ATM into his crappy Pinto, and called the cops. There was a nice little chase, some gun pointing and harsh language, and I wound up with the Smith he was wearing in evidence.

After he was convicted (guilty plea) of bank burglary in federal court, I called his Dad and asked him if he wanted the 4506 that was in evidence. He seemed surprised, but said sure thing. So I gave it to his Dad, with the instruction his felon kid couldn't have it. He seemed fine with it, and nobody ever said anything.

I see a lot of internet nonsense about not carrying a nice gun because it will wind up in evidence. Yes, it will. If it was a good shooting, you'll most likely get it back. If its not a good shooting, getting your gun back will be the least of your worries as you contemplate a change in your romantic orientation.

If for some reason you are involved in a good shooting, but don't get your gun back - big deal. You won the lottery. Be happy anyway.

 

[TomkinsSP]

...I see a lot of internet nonsense about not carrying a nice gun because it will wind up in evidence. Yes, it will. If it was a good shooting, you'll most likely get it back...

While this is the way it SHOULD work, and this is the way it works in Montana, and many other places. In the big city I once worked in, really nice, rare or valuble things had a habit of sometimes going missing. Some folks made it really difficult to get property returned if they felt you should not have that property to begin with. If you had something that was now a 'grandfathered' item, it just wasn't coming back.

 

[Piwo]

Depends on jurisdiction, unfortunately. In Cleveland, Ohio, Cuyahoga County the weapon is/was held until all appeals, criminal and civil, are exhausted. If you want it back, file an "Order of Replevin" and fight through that. Of course, the cost will equal 3 or 4 custom Les Baer 1911s. That is why I have a box of J-frames and Glocks. Things may be changing as at least one person recently challenged the City of Cleveland on this policy and won. They got their gun back but it cost them.

 

[federali]

You Need To Sit Down For This.

If you shoot an intruder, police investigators, at least the thorough ones, will not take your word for it that the gun on your night stand was indeed the one you used. If you need a permit in your state, they'll ask for the permit and no matter how many guns are on the permit, all of them will be seized as evidence until Ballistics can verify or corroborate which gun you used.

If you are exonerated, you'll get your stuff back.

 

[Weimar]

I can tell you that even if seized, there is a very, very good chance you won't get it back, even if charges are dropped or lowered....

All depending on jurisdiction

 

[torizus]

Warning : The following comment may contain graphic description of events that may cause some readers pain, facial contortions or other physical experiences.

It was the policy and procedure of the Chicago Police Department up until the late 90's or early 2000 for an officer inventorying a recovered firearm to " permanently etch the officer's initials and star number on the firearm into the metal" . This was heartbreaking at times when it involved an obviously pristine or collector grade gun.

 

[PPS1980]

Depends on the jurisdiction. Let me say, from personal experience, that many "progressive" municipal jurisdiction concoct one excuse after another until the weapon is "lost" or "abandoned by its owner" and then destroyed. Multiple filings of paperwork, multiple letters, many calls, and after everything was said and done my weapon was stolen twice - the first time along with my wife's car and the second time by the local municipal police department (which just coincidentally had a HUGE TV event where they destroyed thousands of "abandoned" weapons).