Case Summary
Issue:
Whether the burden of proof rests on the United States to justify its retention of personal property it seized after the conclusion of its criminal investigation?
Plaintiff:
United States of America
Defendant:
Custer Battlefield Museum and Store
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Case History
In 2005 and 2008, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), through the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Law Enforcement and Security, used two dozen federal agents with guns drawn to execute search warrants at the Custer Battlefield Museum, which is on private property owned by Christopher Kortlander, Executive Director of the Museum, near the site of the Battle of Little Big Horn in southern Montana, by surrounding the property, holding employees at gunpoint, and seizing hundreds of items on permanent display at the Museum.
From 2005 through mid-summer 2009, the U.S. Attorney in Montana repeatedly threatened to file criminal charges against Mr. Kortlander, if Mr. Kortlander did not enter into a plea agreement. Mr. Kortlander refused. In early August 2009, the U.S. Attorney wrote that, while it would “not be seeking prosecution in this case,” it would be “reviewing [the seized] items [to determine] whether they can be legally possessed by [Mr. Kortlander].” Twenty artifacts, which include a war bonnet, headdress, medicine bundle, and shield—all of which contain golden or bald eagle feathers—have not been returned allegedly because their possession is illegal under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. MSLF argues that the Museum lawfully possessed the artifacts because they pre-date the federal act and that, because the federal government’s allegations that the artifacts were obtained.
