Colorado’s second-highest court last week directed a Jefferson County judge to reconsider a man’s request for Lakewood police to return his car, which the city declined to release even after his criminal case was resolved.

Police arrested Kameron Murphy in September 2022 and charged him with tampering with the body of his recently deceased girlfriend, along with other offenses. Homicide, however, was not one of the charges.

The following June, Murphy pleaded guilty to posting a private image for harassment and received a sentence of time served in jail. The district attorney’s office dismissed the remaining charges.

At the sentencing hearing, the defense notified then-District Court Judge Robert Lochary that Murphy wanted Lakewood police to return his vehicle, which they had seized under a search warrant to investigate the victim’s death. Prosecutor Tyra Forbes said she had no objection to that request.

“Mr. Murphy will just have to go to Lakewood PD and make the request,” she said.

“All right. If it requires a court order, the court will issue that order,” said Lochary.

However, Lakewood police refused to release Murphy’s vehicle. He then filed a motion to retrieve his property. Several months earlier, the Colorado Supreme Court had issued a decision clarifying that defendants may seek the return of property seized by law enforcement using their criminal proceedings, so long as the trial judge still has jurisdiction over the case.

District Court Judge Christopher B. Rhamey concluded he had jurisdiction over Murphy’s criminal case. However, he believed he could not order the release of the car if it was being held for “separate investigations” into the victim’s potential murder.

“Ultimately, this item was seized through a lawful search warrant before the filing of this case as to a homicide investigation,” he said. “Here, we’re talking about essentially a different case that’s unfiled.”

To the Court of Appeals, Murphy argued there was never a homicide charge for him and the warrant used to seize his car was no longer valid in light of his criminal case’s resolution.

A three-judge Court of Appeals panel did not address whether the search warrant remained valid, deeming it an issue for a trial judge to address first. Instead, it concluded Rhamey was wrong to believe his authority to order the car’s release did not extend to the homicide investigation.

Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s decision, Murphy just had to show he owned the property and it was seized by law enforcement as part of the case.

“Not only did the prosecutor not object to the request, but the prosecutor instructed Murphy to go to the Lakewood P.D. and request his vehicle — an implicit admission that the Lakewood P.D. had seized the car and a concession that it was his property,” wrote Judge Craig R. Welling in the July 31 opinion.

The panel returned the case to Rhamey for reconsideration.

The case is People v. Murphy.