Kaczynski

ORDER

After convicted Unabomber Theodore John Kaezynski pled guilty “to a series of coldly calculated bombings that resulted in the loss of innocent life and numerous life-altering injuries,” Kaezynski moved for return of his property that was “seized pursuant to a search of his Montana cabin in 1996.... ” United States v. Kaczynski, 416 F.3d 971, 972 (9th Cir.2005). His motion was denied partly because of a ruling that a $15,026,000 restitution order, which had been entered in favor of certain victims and their families (“Named Victims”) but had not yet been satisfied, constituted a lien on the property that defeated his motion. United States v. Kaczynski, 306 F.Supp.2d 952, 955-56 (E.D.Cal.2004).

On appeal, the Ninth Circuit stated that the restitution order in favor of the Named Victims “gives the government a cognizable claim of ownership” that “defeat[s][the] motion for return of property [only] ‘if that property is needed to satisfy the terms of the restitution order.’ ” Kaczynski, 416 F.3d at 974 (quoting United States v. Mills, 991 F.2d 609, 612 (9th Cir.1993)). Since the government asserted the property had only “negligible value,” the Ninth Circuit concluded the…