SYDNEY SMITH
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Fla. 3d DCA | 2021-09-15
No. 17-1211
Robinson
Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2021)

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

Property seized in connection with a criminal proceeding vests permanently in the law enforcement agency 60 days after the conclusion of the criminal proceeding unless the seizure was for non-investigative or non-evidentiary purposes, in which case a 4-year statute of limitations applies.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court retains inherent authority over property seized in connection with a criminal proceeding, even after the prosecution has concluded.

[2] A motion for the return of seized property must be filed within sixty days after the conclusion of the criminal proceeding.

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“Section 705.105(1) provides that the title to property seized in connection with a criminal proceeding shall vest permanently in the law enforcement agency sixty days after the conclusion of the criminal proceeding. Thus, in order to seek the return of seized property, a defendant must file a motion within that sixty-day period.”

Court citation to Davis v. State explaining the operation of the 60-day vesting statute

Facts & Procedural History

Sydney Smith sought return of property seized in connection with a criminal proceeding. The case involved application of Florida's statutory framework…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

Affirmed. See § 705.105, Fla. Stat. (2017); Davis v. State, 198 So. 3d 1070, 1072 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) ("Section 705.105(1) provides that the title to property seized in connection with a criminal proceeding shall vest permanently in the law enforcement agency sixty days after the conclusion of the criminal proceeding. Thus, in order to seek the return of seized property, a defendant must file a motion within that sixty-day period."); Shirah

v. State, 312 So. 3d 1054, 1055-56 (Fla. 1st DCA 2021) ("The 60-day vesting

does not apply, however, if the property was seized for non-investigative or non-evidentiary purposes. Rather, in such cases, a 4-year statute of limitations applies. § 95.11(3)(i), Fla. Stat. (establishing 4-year statute of limitations to actions for return of property held by the State) . . . .")


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw