Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant Post Search Warrant Issue

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

boanon

Member
Hello,

About 11 months ago I was the subject of a federal search warrant. As far as I can tell after plenty of research is that I did not do anything illegal and it only involved roleplay games. The were more interested in people contacting my online persona and asked to assume that identity to which i consented. 2 hard drives and 2 cameras were taken. Other than trying to follow up myself about 3 months after the seizure and being told that it would be several more months I did not hear anything. Then a month ago I received an out-of-the-blue email from one of the agents apologizing for the delay in returning my property. He said that he should have it back in about 2 weeks and from there where would I want it delivered. My concern is that was 1 month ago and I have heard nothing else. I understand they are busy, but I am worried and just want to know how long it takes to return property once an invesitgation is completed. are there a lot of steps?

THanks
 
Hello,

Maybe my question was too specific so hopefully a more general question can be answered. Please forgive the follow-up to my own post.

Thanks everyone for your help so far and I hope I was able to be a little helpful in the threads I replied to. This is a very scary time of life right now so I just have some questions regarding search warrant and seizure process. I have done my own searches but was unable to find answers. This is in regards to federal law.

First of all, does an agent have to provide exculpatory evidence when obtaining a warrant? At the time of the warrant, taking certain emails out of context would easily make one suspect something was going on but in their entirety it was fairly obvious that it was just a roleplay situation. I know they searched the email account sometime before physically searching my house as they told me that. Now the warrant itself was very specific to the emails between me and certain other people so is it possible the warrant was more part of an investigation into others who took the roleplay seriously?

And secondly, when the property is seized I know it goes to a central forensics unit where it sits forever then is processed and once processed a report is generated for the agents. It also appears that each office has specific representative to act as liasons between the agents and the forensics technicians. How, though, does this process actually work? Does the agent receive notice before the analysis begins or just receives a report after and does the physical property accompany the report or does it stay with the unit until further instructions. And finally, once the property is cleared for return does it get shipped right from forensics to the person or does it go first to the agents?

Thanks for any help that can be provided!

Ben
 
Your question are very specific and would probably require the aid of an attorney familiar with federal procedure and law to address.

As to the question of exculpatory evidence in an affidavit for a search warrant, that's a big "maybe". It depends on the nature of the evidence and its weight. Would it be a good idea to tell the judge about it? Sure. Do you have to? Well, sometimes it might be good to help the affidavit withstand legal challenge.

And why does it matter to you at this stage how the relationship between the agents and the forensics technicians work? If there is a problem with the analysis, then your attorney can challenge the evidence in court. But, in general, I do not believe the investigating agent is given advance notice of any testing, only a report afterwards.

It would be of great benefit for you to consult an attorney who can seek information via discovery (if there has been a case filed against you) and who could advise you on the next steps to take.

- Carl
 
Thanks for the reply. As far as I know nothing has been filed against me. In fact, I heard a few weeks ago that I would be getting my stuff back after the agent got it back "in about 2 weeks". I guess I was just trying to guess what the impetus of his message was and if it was in response to receiving the report from forensics then he probably, my guess, would be to get paperwork to get the stuff from forensics then more paperwork to send it back to me with processing time for the paperwork in between and considering it took them over a month to type out a handwritten thing that I signed giving them permission to use my online identity I imagine that paperwork can take some time.
 
You'd have to ask him what the holdup is. It's likely a bureaucratic foul up as the world runs on paperwork.

- Carl
 
Hello Carl,

Well without emailing them I just heard back from the agent I was dealing with apologizing again for the delay and that due to circumstances beyond his control it will be a few more weeks. I dont know exactly what the hold up is and I am a little concerned but I think if they were thinking of filing anything (which I do not know what because I do not know what crime I would have committed) I probably would not hear anything, especially unsolicited emails giving me an indication that my property will be returned in the near future.

Ben
 
So the few weeks has now turned into 6 weeks. I guess if 2 weeks means 5 for a followup and 2 months means 10 for a follow-up then 6 weeks is well within the "few weeks" range. I just really want to put this behind me. This investigation has caused me to deal with the issues in my life that led to my issues (issues where I was obsessed with being a victim of abuse not an issue of abusing anyone and went through various roleplay scenerios where I was a victim of which one of them the feds took seriously enough to investigate - that and a trip to Guatemala which apparently is suspiciuos in and of itself though it was a missions trip and nothing untoward) and I am ready to move forward, to possibly get married and enjoy a life without ghosts of some apparent past abuse of me.
 
As I often have to tell my wife, it is useless to stress about things in our lives over which we have no control. This is one of those things. You have no control over the speed in which someone else does things. So, you can either choose to be paralyzed by someone else's inaction, or, you can choose to move on with your life.

I'd move on.

- Carl
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Share this page

Get a free case review from a lawyer
Back
Top