Okay, so the court ruled the funds were not subject to forfeiture because of failure to comply with civil discovery. Now, we need to give the money back.

1) Can the court order court and attorney fees assessed in the criminal case be paid from the funds prior to dispersal?

2) Should the check returning the funds be made for the defendant, or the defendant and his attorney? (I say just the defendant but this is a gut call and not backed by any caselaw. If you have any it would be helpful.)

I'll give you my 2 cents.

1. No. At least I do not know of any authority to do so.

2. Generally the prevailing party prepares the judgment. In my one experience with this type situation and every case with an attorney that we returned funds by agreement, the judgment directed the check to be payable to defendant and the attorney, within 30 days of the execution of the judgment.