Court Opinion

ID: 9735146
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:03:46.116448+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:55.756550
License: Public Domain

SUNDBY, J.
(dissenting). The majority correctly concludes that Benhoff has the right to return of the *608photographs, unless they are contraband. Because the photographs are not contraband, Benhoff has the right under § 968.20, STATS., to return of the photographs.
"Contraband" is defined as: "In general, any property which is unlawful to produce or possess." BLACK'S Law Dictionary 322 (6th ed. 1990).
Benhoff possessed these photographs in a locked file cabinet in a mobile home he shared with his mother. He did not attempt to distribute them to others or to show them to prohibited persons; nor did he offer them for sale. There is nothing in the law which makes unlawful possession of lewd, obscene or indecent photographs in one's own home; it is the use which the owner makes of the photographs which determines whether they are contraband. If Benhoff attempts to display them in the Waupun Correctional Institution, that display will be subject to prison regulations. If he attempts to sell them or show them to prohibited persons, such as minors, the pictures may then be seized because Benhoff would be applying them to an unlawful use.
Because Benhoff has established a right to return of the photographs under § 968.20(1), STATS., I see no purpose in remanding this appeal to the trial court to determine which of the photographs are obscene. It is irrelevant whether the photographs are obscene. I therefore respectfully dissent.