No, the question was whether Data was a person, i.e., a sentient being. There was never any question of his being a human being.
Well, if Soong’s will could not be found, it would depend on finding some relative, near or distant, who could make an arguable claim to being Soong’s heir-at-law. In most American states, if you die intestate with no heir-at-law, your estate will (eventually) escheat to the state; but heir-at-law can be a pretty distant relationship. Since the Federation is like the USA in most cultural, political and legal respects (thank you, Mr. Roddenberry!), it’s probably the same rule there.
“My client is guilty of nothing more that being Arnold Rimmer. That is his crime…that is also his punishment.”
Oh, and one more Trek example. In the Star Trek series that doesn’t exist, there was one episode where Paris was accused of murder on some planet or another. The main evidence was the dead man’s last experiences, as lifted from his brain in some technobabble mumbo-jumbo way, and the punishment was that every hour, Paris had to re-live that death from the victim’s point of view. It turned out that the brain-scan data was faked (something which the natives had assumed was impossible) and that Paris was innocent of the murder, though he was having an affair with the stiff’s wife.
The climactic scene in A Civil Campaign is a trial, IIRC. Another great scene.
And the letter Miles writes to Ekaterine about midway thru the book is freaking briliant beyond words.
Regards,
Shodan
<nitpick>
That wasn’t a trial, it was a legislative session. 
</nitpick>
And I agree about how great the letter was.
Sure, but the courtroom was set up like an US court (not even a British one) and they kept saying “Objection sustained” and “overruled.” One would think an alien legal system would do things differently.