Plumbago Mining Corp. v. Sweatt

VIOLETTE, Justice.

In these two appeals, this Court is presented with an issue of first impression: the appropriate disposition of property illegally seized from the defendants in a criminal prosecution (Dale and Carol Sweatt) which, in two pending civil actions, is claimed to have been stolen from its alleged rightful owner (Plumbago Mining Corporation). We hold that under the unique circumstances of these eases the Superior Court erred in ordering, on the authority of our mandate in State v. Sweatt, Me., 427 A.2d 940 (1981), the property returned to the defendants, and victims of the illegal…