How long is evidence held

If no charges are issued, and the seized items are not needed for any other purpose, they can be returned to the rightful owner upon discharge from the police station.

The police may seize certain property because the police believe the property was used or obtained during the commission of a crime. If true, the police may be able to permanently keep, or even sell, your property if they can make a sufficient showing in court. Typical examples of property subject to forfeiture include:. Contraband simply refers to property that the police seized because it is a crime to have it in the first place.

This category of property includes illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia e. If you have been charged with possessing contraband typically drugs the police will hold the property as evidence until the case is over and will likely destroy it afterwards. Depending on the facts of the arrest, certain property, although not contraband or subject to forfeiture, is nonetheless needed by the district attorney to prosecute the criminal case.

Although in some circumstances your defense attorney may be able to reclaim your property while the case is pending, the general rule is that the property will be held until the conclusion of your case and can even include time spent on appeal as well. Assuming the property is not contraband, determining when you can reclaim your property depends on a number of factors including the legal justification for the seizure and the nature of the property.

For example, if the police seized your property solely for safekeeping they will typically return the property upon your release from custody or make arrangements with you to reclaim your property at a future date from the property office.

If the seized property was contraband, the police will not return the property under any circumstances. In Arizona, the general statute of limitations is 7 years for felonies, 1 year for misdemeanors, and 6 months for petty offenses, though there are some exceptions e.

You can file a request to have your property returned before the statute of limitations expires, but it can be challenging if the police are uncooperative. Your best bet is to hire an attorney who can work with the court to secure the release of your property. When the police make an arrest, they may seize valuable items like your phone, tablet, jewelry, or money to protect your property from loss or theft.

When the police come across property that was used or obtained during the commission of a crime, they can seize, hold, and even sell the property if they can prove the criminal connection. Most forfeiture cases in Arizona involve money, vehicles, cell phones, and computers. Some common examples include counterfeit property, illicit weapons, unlicensed firearms, illicit drugs, and drug paraphernalia. Police will typically hold onto contraband items as evidence, then destroy them at the conclusion of the case or when the statute of limitations expires.

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Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. Preservation of Evidence in Criminal Cases. Law enforcement officers and prosecutors have a duty to preserve certain kinds of evidence. Learn what they have to keep, and what happens when they don't keep it. Alibi evidence Exactly what evidence is material and exculpatory depends upon the circumstances of the case. Other kinds of evidence In many cases, law enforcement doesn't have obvious alibi evidence, but it does have other kinds of material and exculpatory evidence.

Such evidence may include: Crime scene evidence. Most jurisdictions have local and state rules about the collection and preservation of evidence at the crime scene, such as the murder weapon, blood samples, and photographs of the scene.

Tape recordings and videotapes. The police usually aren't required to tape record statements of the defendant or witnesses.

However, if they do make audio or video recordings of statements, they have to preserve them. Investigative notes. Most states require officers and investigators to preserve investigative notes only if they made them during an interrogation of the defendant.

But if those notes contain exculpatory information, that information must be conveyed to the defense. Emergency call recordings. Law enforcement typically must preserve and disclose recordings or transcripts of the calls to the defendant.