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twomillenium wrote:

Jusme wrote:

RossA wrote:That is the whole point. Seizing the good guy's gun is not evidence of anything. The good guy didn't commit the crime, so the gun isn't evidence.
Seizing the bad guy's gun is obviously evidence that he was committing a crime, but if the good guy isn't charged with a crime, his gun is not evidence.

Every death, is initially investigated as a homicide, simply because all evidence is collected and then can be used to either confirm or eliminate suspects etc. Otherwise evidence can be lost or tampered with.
If the investigation proves to be self defense, or otherwise justified, and no charges are filed, I agree the gun should be returned as soon as possible.

Arrests don't always happen at the scene, and may not occur at all. The evidence and reports are forwarded to the county attorney for determination of charges. The county attorney may convene a grand jury to assess the case.

All of this takes time, and it is unfortunate for the law abiding owner to wait to get his/her gun back. But once a determination is made to not file charges the agency has no further reason to retain the gun.

Every death in the hands of another is a homicide. Whether or not it is a criminal act (murder or negligent) or a justified act (self defense or the defense of another) is up to the justice system to decide, not the police. Until, the innocence or justification is determined by the justice system, the firearm is evidence and should be held until that time. The two incidents that I am aware of, the firearm was returned to the owner after grand jury no-bill and it was without incident or attorney involvement. I guess that could vary, county to county.

Here's a different scenario on holding a firearm as evidence. I had almost all my firearms stolen in 1995. More than a year later I received a call from a detective with my my local police asking if I had a particular pistol stolen and if it was located would I want it returned. I thought to myself, as you probably are as well, that absolutley I'd want it back and informed him I would. It was explained to me the pistol had been used in an armed robery and the actor was caught red handed. Of course it would be held as evidence until after the trial, which I understood completely. I was given the name of the hijacker and maybe the case number, but I know he gave me the name. I wrote down his name and the detective's name and date of the offense. After a few months had passed I called the detective about the case and he said it hadn't gone to trial yet and if I still wanted the pistol back he'd let me know. I would call about every three months to check and I was always told the detective was off or on a different shift or on vacation and never talked to him again for a period of at least two years from the last conversation we'd had even though I had left numerous messages. I finally just gave up. Not too long after I gave up I happened to run into a guy I grew up with, who after retiring from the Houston Police Dept. went to work for Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes. I mentioned my stolen pistol and the time frame along with the suspect's name. He had a good laugh when I told him about the case and that he guy was using my stolen Ruger SA .357 Blackhawk to rob a store and was caught in the act and had apparently decided a cowboy gun was not the best choice for a shootout with the police. Within two weeks I received a little post card from my local police department stating they had my weapon in the evidence holding division and if I didn't pick it up within two weeks it would be disposed of. As soon as I could I went to pick it up. As she was doing the paperwork the lady in charge of the "evidence division" (it was a large closet) mentioned she knew me. Her older brother was a friend of mine when we were teenagers adn she remembered I had a twin brother. (Not the HPD LEO friend) She said the pistol had been there a long, long time and she was surprised it was still there. After signing her log I took the white paper bag with a string tied around it with a large tag and left. When I got to my vehicle I looked at the tag and the case disposition date was about three month's after the attempted robbery had taken place. Why the detective never told me that the first time I called is anyone's guess. Why he never returned my phone call was also strange. There was a pretty good size ding on the barrel at the muzzle, which I assume happened when he dropped it and it was a little beat up with some minor scratches. I saw my friend at a high school reunion and he told me the guy had plead guilty to the charge and told me how much time he got which I can't recall. I never did find out what "disposed of" meant because the woman who returned it was a little vague about what happens to firearms. This is one of two of the stolen firearms I now have in my possession. I had to buy the other one back, but that's another story. It just shows that every department has widely varying policies regarding returning firearms held as evidence.