We recently had a gentleman in our jursdiction drive over to the house of a former co-worker, shoot the co-worker with a firearm, then drove off and killed himself. The police seized the car, the firearm, and possibly some miscellaneous items in the car without a warrant during their investigation.

They now want to release the car to the family and either release or destroy the gun. Do they need a court order for this? If so what statutory procedure prescribes how to properly do this? What court does it go through?

Take a look at CCP art. 18.17. It lays out the procedure for seized, but abandoned or unclaimed, property where the property is no longer being held as evidence.

JR
I just did one of these for the first time. Your JP should have forms, mine did.