How to retrieve items taken during a search warrant (story included)

[Ty0604]

Washington State

I had some stuff taken from me during a search warrant and I was wondering what the laws were regarding the return of those items. Here's the story. I was suspected of "computer trespass" and "stalking" but I was never arrested or charged. In January the cops showed up at my place but I was "sleeping" so they didn't bother to wake me up or anything. The truth is that I heard them knocking on my bedroom door but I ignored them. I figured if it was important enough they would have kicked the door down. They knew I was home because my roommates told them I was. They left though and two days later I was injured in an accident which required me to move back to Oregon. I was recovering at my parents house for six weeks and when I returned to my former residence to pack my belongings, there was the paperwork for the search warrant and the list of the items that had been taken. The search took place on January 26 and I have yet to hear from them. They have my new address so if they had found anything incriminating on the items they took I'm sure they would have contacted local authorities in my new city and had them arrest me. I know for a fact that nothing they took would have had anything bad on it. There were pictures of an ex of mine that I never deleted (nudes) but otherwise the items they took contained thousands of pictures that I cannot get back. They were stored on those devices in case my computer crashed. A list of what they took is below. It's been almost three months. They would have gone through the items by now. Why has nobody contacted me? What do I need to do to get my items back? I live 350 miles away now and can't simply drive there to see if I can get them. I don't even drive. Someone please give me advice on what to do and if you need more information, feel free to ask.

Items taken:
Digital camera
Apple TV with remote
WD Passport External Harddrive
Thumb drive
6 CD's that I had pictures stored on (Including 2 CD's that contained pictures from the funeral of two friends of mine. How cruel can cops get??)

I think that was all as far as I can recall... The thing that got me was Apple TV. Really? You can't even store anything on it and it's used to stream TV from your Mac to your household TV.

PS: They destroyed my room. They broke items and threw paperwork everywhere. It looked like the aftermath of a hurricane. No respect at all.

 

[swalsh411]

3 months is not enough time to complete the forensics. It takes longer then you think. I would give it until the end of the year. If you want to hire an attorney they may be able to find out more otherwise all you can do is wait. I would not recommend speaking to the investigator on your own.

And just because nothing was found on your computer doesn't mean you won't be charged.

 

[Ty0604]

They didn't take my computer. I probably would have been arrested then. The search warrant paper indicated that they were doing the search because they "believed a crime occurred" which sounds like to me that they didn't have enough evidence to arrest me 3 months ago. I know for a fact that they didn't find anything incriminating on the stuff they took so if they didn't have enough evidence then, they wouldn't now either. It's a small college town and the police there have nothing better to do than harass everyone. I'm sure by now they've been able to go through all of the items they took from me.

I will take your advice and wait however. Will they contact me or should I contact them in awhile? Can they sell the items without me knowing? Like at an auction or whatever. I'm just worried that they will keep the items because I can't get any of those pictures back. If they didn't find any evidence on them then they shouldn't be legally allowed to keep them.

I don't have money for an attorney. I'm a college student, enough said.

 

[justalayman]

They didn't take my computer. I probably would have been arrested then. The search warrant paper indicated that they were doing the search because they "believed a crime occurred" which sounds like to me that they didn't have enough evidence to arrest me 3 months ago. I know for a fact that they didn't find anything incriminating on the stuff they took so if they didn't have enough evidence then, they wouldn't now either. It's a small college town and the police there have nothing better to do than harass everyone. I'm sure by now they've been able to go through all of the items they took from me.

I will take your advice and wait however. Will they contact me or should I contact them in awhile? Can they sell the items without me knowing? Like at an auction or whatever. I'm just worried that they will keep the items because I can't get any of those pictures back. If they didn't find any evidence on them then they shouldn't be legally allowed to keep them.

I don't have money for an attorney. I'm a college student, enough said.

they have quite a long time to charge you. I would have to look but you can usually expect the minimum time limit is 1 year. I would not expect the property back until that year is up. Then, if they haven't charged you, ask them how to get it back./

 

[dave33]

I have never heard of the police returning property just because they no longer needed it. It usually takes an effort on the person's part.The police are allowed more and more leeway. For now, you will have to wait. They are conducting an investigation and will keep the items until you start making some noise to get them back.
Hopefully you will not be charged, however if you are the lawyer handling the criminal case3 can also look into the property issue. If you have the money and need a speedy return of the items than consulting an attorney is the best bet. Without an attorney it could be years if ever.
Now, you can always call and ask, if you choose this route, be careful they are trying to obtain evidence for a criminal case.goodluck.

 

[Ty0604]

I have never heard of the police returning property just because they no longer needed it. It usually takes an effort on the person's part.The police are allowed more and more leeway. For now, you will have to wait. They are conducting an investigation and will keep the items until you start making some noise to get them back.
Hopefully you will not be charged, however if you are the lawyer handling the criminal case3 can also look into the property issue. If you have the money and need a speedy return of the items than consulting an attorney is the best bet. Without an attorney it could be years if ever.
Now, you can always call and ask, if you choose this route, be careful they are trying to obtain evidence for a criminal case.goodluck.

I'm not in a hurry to get them back. I couldn't careless about the items themselves, it's the irreplaceable pictures that are stored on those devices and nowhere else. Countless photos of people who have passed away. I can purchase the items again but you can't replace sentimental pictures like that, ever.

What are the status of limitations on charges like those? They were both listed as 3rd degree misdemeanors, that's the lowest possible offense, correct?

I wont be contacting them anytime soon. Sounds like that would be a bad idea because then they could possibly get the information they need to charge me. I'd rather wait it out. I need to stay out of it until at least October for other reasons. Will I know when I'm charged or would they just issue a warrant?

Thanks for all of your help and sorry about being so naive about this kind of thing. It's stupid and I wish the cops had something better to do.