Legal Advice?
I’m young In the grand scheme of things being only recently legally able to purchase alcohol, so I was hoping you guys could offer some input...
I was charged with a felony and arrested at my friends step moms apartment. She was not present, however the police still searched the apartment. Basically no one was present who could give them permission to search to the apartment, and when I was in the apartment they did not enter because they did not have a search warrant (as far as I know). However when I went to my car with my friend they rushed us from nowhere and I was taken in. Once I arrived at the station they asked me about a case that was completely separate from what I was arrested for. They also seized my phone, along with a bullet proof vest, ar15, laptop, and assorted ammunition for various firearms. None of this property had anything to do with what I was initially arrested for but rather a separate investigation. After 5 months of county I was released and only a few days ago I was able to finally sign a plea deal for misdemeanor (they had no evidence) and now I’m trying to get my property back. My lawyer was unable to help me because the property is being held for a separate case so they wouldn’t even speak with her. I called asking for it to be released before my one case was complete and the detective refused to release it. Now however my one case is wrapped up so I’m calling the police department Monday to ask again if they will release it back to me since the case I was charged with is resolved.
My question is what should I do if they refuse too? Can I do anything? I know technically they have up to like 5yrs to hold onto property before they have to release it to me but they never had any search warrants or permission to seize it in the first place, as the only thing on ky person when arrested was my phone, everything else was in the apartment and they never showed a search warrant and since the step mom wasn’t there no one at the scene could have given them permission to search the apartment.
Thanks for any and all advice, I don’t have much money for a lawyer but I was going to look into possibly getting one.