Stuart v. Rech

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

A magistrate judge issued a warrant for federal officers to search the premises of a company of which James Stuart is a principal, for evidence of tax evasion. Stuart moved for the return of the property seized in the search, arguing that the search had violated the Fourth Amendment. The motion was assigned to the magistrate judge who had issued the warrant, and he properly construed it as a motion for return of property under Rule 41(g) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, though Stuart, who was pro se, hadn’t labeled it a Rule 41(g) motion. (The criminal…