Appeal
from the Marion Superior Court The Honorable Clark Rogers,
Judge The Honorable David Hooper, Magistrate Trial Court
Cause No. 49F25-1001-FA-1153
APPELLANT PRO SE Larry Warren Pendleton, Indiana
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Attorney General
of Indiana Angela Sanchez Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
TAVITAS, JUDGE.
Case
Summary
[¶1]
Larry Warren appeals the trial court's partial denial of
his motion for return of property. We reverse and
remand.[1]
Issue
[¶2]
Warren raises one issue, which we restate as whether the
trial court properly denied Warren's motion for return of
property that contained depictions of sexual conduct.
Facts
[¶3]
In 2010, Warren was charged with multiple counts of child
molesting, Class A felonies; sexual misconduct with a minor,
Class B felonies; and child solicitation, Class D felonies.
Search warrants were executed on Warren's residence and
his mother's residence, and property was seized as a
result. In December 2012, Warren was found guilty of three
counts of child molesting, Class A felonies, and two counts
of child solicitation, Class D felonies. The trial court
sentenced Warren to an aggregate sentence of eighty years in
the Department of Correction. On appeal, we remanded for
resentencing based on a violation of Blakely v.
Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531 (2004).
See Warren v. State, No. 49A04-1301-CR-25
(Ind.Ct.App. Oct. 8, 2013). The trial court resentenced
Warren to an aggregate sentence of seventy years.
[¶4]
On March 1, 2017, Warren filed a petition for return of his
seized property not used in the prosecution of his crimes,
which included hundreds of items, including photographs and
video recordings. The State did not object to the release of
electronic devices. The State, however, objected to the
release of "any tapes, recordings, film or digital and
photos" because the items contained "a wealth of
sexual images that seem[] to involve private sexual conduct
probably confidential between unnamed individuals other than
[Warren]," and the State had no indication that
"said individuals consent to dissemination of their
images to [Warren], his mother, or any other 3rd party."
Appellant's App. Vol. II p. 33. On March 7, 2017, the
trial court granted Warren's request to release the
electronic devices but denied the request to release
"tapes, films, digital, or photographic images or other
recordings in that these items contain[] sexual-images that
seem to involve private sexual conduct between un-named and
un-identifiable persons and the State has no indication that
the individuals depicted give their consent to dessiminate
[sic] these items." Id. at 35.
[¶5]
Warren filed a motion to correct error. Warren alleged that:
(1) some of the photographs and recordings are from his
childhood, family events, Hurricane Katrina, Afghanistan, and
Iraq; (2) other photographs and recordings were from his work
for RWG (Real Wild Girls) Media and were taken in public
places or consent was given; and (3) none of the items
related to his child molesting conviction. The trial court
granted Warren's motion to correct error in part. In
general, the trial court directed the State to release all of
the property to Warren or his agent except for videos and
other images containing sexual or pornographic materials. The
trial court noted: "Should the State elect not to
release these types of material [sic], the Defendant may
petition this court for further proceedings."
Id. at 89.
[¶6]
Warren then filed a motion to reconsider and argued that the
State had failed to rebut Warren's lawful ownership of
the images and videos and the State's "hunch"
that the images were "non-consensual and illegal"
was insufficient. Id. at 93. Warren listed hundreds
of video tapes, DVDs, CDs, and photographs that were retained
by the State. The trial court denied the motion to
reconsider.
[¶7]
On September 15, 2017, Warren filed a motion for rule to show
cause and argued that the State had failed to return his
firearms. Warren also filed a second motion for return of
property regarding the remainder of his property. Warren
alleged that all of the recordings and photographs were
provided to him or recorded by him "with full and
explicit written and oral consent of the persons of whom
whose [sic] likeness appears therein." Id. at
135. According to Warren, due to the seizure of the
...