Opinion
14-cr-40063-JPG-01
06-03-2024
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff v. JAMES NATHANIAL WATTS, Defendant
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
J. PHIL GILBERT DISTRICT JUDGE
Defendant James Nathaniel Watts has filed two motions for return of property taken from him in connection with his arrest (Docs. 669 & 674). The first motion seeks an unknown amount of cash Watts claims was seized from his person; the second, expressly filed under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(g), seeks $365 Watts claims was removed from his pocket during his arrest and a new cell phone that was seized from his mother. The Government has responded to the first motion urging the Court to open this matter as a separate civil action (Doc. 671).
Rule 41(g) provides that “[a] person aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure of property or by the deprivation of property may move for the property's return.” “[O]nce a defendant has been convicted, a motion under Rule 41(g) is deemed to initiate a civil equitable proceeding.” United States v. Shaaban, 602 F.3d 877, 878-79 (7th Cir. 2010) (emphasis in original). Such a civil action is subject to the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996). Shaaban, 602 F.3d at 878-79; United States v. Stevens, 500 F.3d 625, 629 (7th Cir. 2007). Thus, the Court must observe the PLRA's procedural requirements, including the imposition of a partial filing fee and merits review. The appropriate mechanism for doing this would be in a separate civil case where, if necessary, the criminal defendant could raise other civil theories of relief. See United States v. Norwood, 602 F.3d 830, 832 (7th Cir. 2010); Chairez v. United States, 355 F.3d 1099, 1100 (7th Cir. 2004).
Accordingly, the Court DENIES the defendant's motions without prejudice in this case (Docs. 669 & 674) and DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to refile the second, more specific, motion (Doc. 674) as the complaint in a separate civil case with the first, more general, motion (Doc. 669) as an attachment. The complaint shall have a filing date of February 15, 2024, the date the first motion was filed. The Court will then proceed to assess the proper PLRA filing fee and conduct a preliminary review of the new case. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(b) & 1915A(a).
IT IS SO ORDERED