Solid State Devices, Inc. v. United States

Solid State Devices, In'c. and Unisem International (collectively “SSDI”) appeal the district court’s decision to deny their petition for return of property, filed pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(e). SSDI’s property was seized in connection with a Department of Defense (“DoD”) investigation of alleged fraudulent practices. SSDI challenges the legality of the seizure, arguing that the warrants executed against it were insufficiently specific. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse the district court’s denial of SSDI’s Rule 41(e) motion.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

SSDI supplies semiconductor devices to the DoD and to a number of DoD contractors. Because SSDI’s semiconductors are used in sophisticated military, aerospace, and space programs, the Government requires that they be manufactured in conformity with exacting standards and tested to assure a high degree of reliability.

Since 1995, SSDI has been under investigation by agents of the Defense Criminal *855 Investigative Service (“DCIS”), an investigative agency within the DoD. On May 17, 1995, Craig N. Wyckoff, a DCIS Special Agent, presented an affidavit to United States…