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Question about weapon seized from suicide

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  • BBL

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    Greetings,

    The situation is as follows:
    A person committed suicide with a handgun. The PD ruled it a suicide but confiscated the weapon.
    PD says the law says that they must keep it for 3 years in case the weapon has been used in other crimes.
    This happened in Texas.

    Question: is the PD lying and pulling "laws" out of their azz or is it actually true that any handgun used in clear suicide must be seized for years?

    Asking for a friend. Truthfully.
    Thx in advance for any useful answers.
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    Renegade

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    Mar 5, 2008
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    Greetings,

    The situation is as follows:
    A person committed suicide with a handgun. The PD ruled it a suicide but confiscated the weapon.
    PD says the law says that they must keep it for 3 years in case the weapon has been used in other crimes.
    This happened in Texas.

    Question: is the PD lying and pulling "laws" out of their azz or is it actually true that any handgun used in clear suicide must be seized for years?

    Asking for a friend. Truthfully.
    Thx in advance for any useful answers.

    Should be easy to cite the law if it exists.

    I have never heard of this 3 year rule ever.
     

    skfullgun

    Dances With Snakes
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    I've requested an answer from several LEO Officers with whom I am familiar. The first one is not aware of any such law, but also noted that the ME or JP is the one who rules the cause of death, not the PD. I know that's a technicality, and not part of the question, but thought I'd pass it along.
    It was also noted that the legality in question may involve a party's inability to establish legal ownership of the firearm.
     

    skfullgun

    Dances With Snakes
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    Look up Chapter 59 (Asset Siezures) and look under Evidentiary Requirements.

    I'm told it has to do with the ruling of "Equivocal", or, "Non-Equivocal" in regard to the nature of the suicide. I hope that helps.

    The answer as to whether or not the seizure and confiscation is legal - "it depends".

    Further, I'm told the 3-year period is arbitrary.

    For the record, I'm not a lawyer and do not portray one on TV.
     

    cycleguy2300

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    Mar 19, 2010
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    Look up Chapter 59 (Asset Siezures) and look under Evidentiary Requirements.

    I'm told it has to do with the ruling of "Equivocal", or, "Non-Equivocal" in regard to the nature of the suicide. I hope that helps.

    The answer as to whether or not the seizure and confiscation is legal - "it depends".

    Further, I'm told the 3-year period is arbitrary.

    For the record, I'm not a lawyer and do not portray one on TV.
    I've never heard of such a law and suspect you would have a good 4th amendment case if you took them to court.

    Once you know the item isn't evidence of a crime, your authority to keep it no longer exists. Just like if a person is detained, once it is clear they are not a suspect, I can't just hang on to them a few hours "in case a new warrant gets entered"

    It may take some dollars up front, but that is BS and you should find a lawyer to sue the dept.

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    Pops1955

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    Had a friend commit suicide a few years back. The gun was in custody of the PD until the week after the funeral. Then returned to the family who donated it to the PD.
     

    Axxe55

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    Dec 15, 2019
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    Honestly, I have never heard of them keeping any firearms in a suicide for three years. If the suicide involved a firearm, I have heard of them keeping the firearm until the completion of the autopsy and toxicology report were finalized, and an official determination of death was ruled on. Then the firearm is usually released to the next of kin, or close family member.

    The three years sounds kind of fishy to me though.
     

    Texasjack

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    A co-worker's husband attempted suicide. Really made a mess, but like most things in his life he failed. Things got interesting for awhile, as the cops tried to pin the shot on her. They held the gun for around 6 months, as I recall, then they called the wife and told her she could pick it up. She asked me to go with her, as she was pretty freaked out about handling a gun that she saw her husband shoot himself with. We went there and found the window for such transactions. They checked and even though they had called her to say it was ready for return, an officer had checked it out that morning and was "testing" it on the range. (My assumption was that he thought she might donate the gun and he wanted to see if it was one he liked. Pure conjecture, but makes some sense.) When it was returned half an hour later, she got the gun and I carried it out for her. It was a crappy S&W from when they tried to get into the cheap pistol market and she sold it to buy groceries. (Massive medical debt, even with insurance. Life Flight, surgeries, long hospital stay, rehab, etc.)

    This was a few years ago. She divorced him and moved far away. Last I heard, various criminals and law enforcement folks were looking for him and he had pretty much run out of friends and family to sponge off of or steal from.
     

    BBL

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    Thank you for all the responses.
    Yes, the ME ruled the death to be suicide. The widow was not a suspect at any point.
    I think a call placed to the detective who was on scene that day would be a first step?
    Along with a request to quote the law that dictates their ownership of evidence for 3 years?

    Would it help to mention that this happened within commie jurisdiction in Austin?
    Can local PDs make up their own policies on top of state laws to seize personal property?
    (IANAL, that's why I ask all these stupid questions)
     

    mdf9183

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    Having spent some time working Homicides in that very city I never heard of a time limit for the PD to keep a gun after the ME has made his finding. Of course my time was back in the late 70s early 80s and I guess the laws could have changed but I doubt it.
     

    Harry_Gorilla

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    I worked homicide / death investigation in metro Atlanta for 14 years. There was no such "law" governing the disposition of a weapon, unless used in the course of a criminal assault or homicide. In the case of a suicide; the weapon was held for 90 days, in the event that new information may come to light to alter our decision regarding the manner of death. After 90 days; a certified letter was sent to the legal next of kin, giving them 30 days to respond by picking it up, or designating another person to pick it up. If no response was received after 30 days; the gun would be tagged for disposal.
     

    Axxe55

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    Thank you for all the responses.
    Yes, the ME ruled the death to be suicide. The widow was not a suspect at any point.
    I think a call placed to the detective who was on scene that day would be a first step?
    Along with a request to quote the law that dictates their ownership of evidence for 3 years?

    Would it help to mention that this happened within commie jurisdiction in Austin?
    Can local PDs make up their own policies on top of state laws to seize personal property?
    (IANAL, that's why I ask all these stupid questions)
    Just a thought, but maybe getting a lawyer involved might sort and speed things up. A lawyer would know if such a law were to exist, and if it doesn't, he could call them on it in a big hurry. Plus lawyers are much better acquainted with the law than most LE officers.

    Just a thought.
     

    skfullgun

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    Thank you for all the responses.
    Yes, the ME ruled the death to be suicide. The widow was not a suspect at any point.
    I think a call placed to the detective who was on scene that day would be a first step?
    Along with a request to quote the law that dictates their ownership of evidence for 3 years?

    Would it help to mention that this happened within commie jurisdiction in Austin?
    Can local PDs make up their own policies on top of state laws to seize personal property?
    (IANAL, that's why I ask all these stupid questions)


    (IANAL)?

    I don't know what that means, but I'm pretty sure I DON'T!
     
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