What happens to all the evidence that gets collected if the case never makes it to trial? Let’s say the evidence includes blood-stained clotes and a kitchen knife. Are the items cleaned and returned to their owner (unlikely), destroyed, sold, or kept incase they are needed in future.
If they are kept how long are they kept for and what happens after they ‘expire’?
It’s likely destroyed.
I do know that things like mugshots and fingerprints taken from an accused in a case that doesn’t go to trial must be either given to the accused to do what he wants with or be destroyed by the cops in the person’s presence.
It depends on the reason it never makes it to trial. If charges are dismissed and unlikely to ever be refiled against anyone it’s usually destroyed, but if there’s just not enough evidence to go forward at that point, it’s stored for possible future use if new evidence comes forth or new technology makes the evidence usuable. Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer, was arrested in 2001 when DNA advances finally made it possible to link him to evidence collected as far back as 1982.
That makes no sense. What if somebody gets murdered in my car? (of course, while I’m in another country and the car was parked in a storage lot. :D) My car is worth $20k. I guess it’s conceivable that my insurance might pay for that kind of loss, but what if my bed is taken as evidence ($1k) or my computer ($600)? (Assuming that the case was not against me.)
And then, to extrapolate further, what if the DA decides to prolong the investigation? Could they withhold my car from me indefinitely?
No.
Property with some value must be returned to the rightful owner. But often their emotions leads them to tell the police that they don’t want blood-stained clothes or bloody knife used to murder grandma. Or years have gone by, and the police can’t locate the rightful owner anymore (and most police forces are too busy to spend much time on this).
So then the items, if they have any value, are usually sold in a city auction. Often in large lots containing, for example, a whole bunch of blood-stained clothing. (Here in Minneapolis, you can get some good deals when the city sells off stolen bicycles that can’t be traced to an owner.) If the items don’t have any particular value, then the police will destroy them.
And the use of mugshots, fingerprints, & DNA samples depends on state law. Many states now have laws allowing them to keep all this, and they are building up big databases of fingerprints of both criminals and innocent people, for use in future investigations.