Opinion
C.A. No. N19M-10-229
07-01-2020
IN THE MATTER OF: One 2013 Chevrolet; and One Chrysler 200 Sedan Petitioner: Miguel Campusano-Tejeda
cc: Original to Prothonotary Petitioner Miguel A. Campusano-Tejeda Danielle J. Brennan, Deputy Attorney General
ORDER REGARDING PETITIONER'S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
Petitioner Miguel Campusano-Tejeda filed a motion seeking the return of a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic and a Chrysler 200 Sedan. A hearing was held on February 17, 2020. A Spanish interpreter assisted Petitioner at the hearing.
At the hearing, the State did not oppose Petitioner's request for the return of the automobiles. The State advised that the two vehicles had only been searched but not seized for forfeiture by the Newark Police. The State advised that the vehicles were towed to Goodchild's Tow Company because the registered owner could not be located or contacted. The State agreed that Petitioner could arrange to move the vehicles from its present location whenever he wanted to do so. The State requested that Petitioner's petition for the return of his automobiles be dismissed because it had never seized the automobiles in the first place and the vehicles were always available to the registered owner to be moved.
On February 17, 2020, this Court entered an Order dismissing Petitioner's Return of Property petition because the property at issue, the two vehicles, had never been seized by the State for forfeiture. The two vehicles were available to the registered owner to be moved.
Because Petitioner was incarcerated at the time of the February 17, 2020 hearing, Petitioner designated his girlfriend, Livanesa Calderon, to contact Corporeal Odom from the Newark Police Department to make the arrangements on his behalf to move the vehicles.
Petitioner has now filed a motion for reconsideration of the February 17, 2020 Order. Petitioner does not appear to understand that his original request for the return of his vehicles was successful. He prevailed at the February 17, 2020 hearing. He may move his vehicles. Although the February 17, 2020 Order states that the petition for return of property is dismissed, that is only because the State never instituted forfeiture proceedings on these vehicles. The State had never sought to seize these vehicles for forfeiture in the first place. Both the State and Petitioner agree that the vehicles belong to the registered owner and may be moved by the registered owner at any time.
Petitioner's motion for reconsideration is MOOT because the February 17, 2020 Order already granted the relief he requested, possession of the two vehicles at issue. Petitioner, or Petitioner's girlfriend, should contact Corporeal Odom from the Newark Police Department and arrange to move the vehicles.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: July 1, 2020
/s/_________
Commissioner Lynne M. Parker cc: Original to Prothonotary
Petitioner Miguel A. Campusano-Tejeda
Danielle J. Brennan, Deputy Attorney General