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District Attorney recommending the Board approve and authorize the County’s acceptance of unclaimed asset forfeiture funds related to case S14CRF0012 in the amount of $6,688.91.
FUNDING: State Forfeited Property Fund.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On January 20, 2014, law enforcement drug task force, SLEDNET seized $6,360 (“Property”) from defendant identified as Cruz, case# S14CRF0012. Cruz’s criminal case was disposed of through a plea agreement entered on April 1, 2014. On August 17, 2015, the Court ordered the Property be returned to Cruz.
On August 28, 2015, the County of El Dorado Auditor’s Office issued check no. 045108 in the amount of $6,386.80, representing the Property plus $26.80 in interest earned. The check was sent by certified mail to the address on file, but was returned as undeliverable on November 19, 2015. Since that time, the District Attorney Investigations Unit has made multiple attempts to locate Cruz, to no avail. The original check issued by the County has thus become stale and no longer valid.
Per California Penal Code sections 1420, 1421, and 1422:
1420. All money received by a district attorney or clerk of the court in any criminal action or proceeding, the owner or owners of which are unknown, and which remains unclaimed in the possession of the district attorney or clerk of the court after final judgment in the criminal action or proceeding, shall be deposited with the county treasurer. Upon the expiration of two years after the deposit, the county treasurer shall cause a notice pursuant to Section 1421 to be published in the county once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county.
1421. The notice shall state the amount of money, the criminal action or proceeding in which the money was received by the district attorney or clerk of the court, the fund in which it is held and that it is proposed that the money will become the property of the county on a designated date ...
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