A federal judge chided two federal agencies Tuesday for taking five months to return three guns to a relative of the John Singer family.Roger Bates, John Singer's son-in-law, asked the U.S. District Court in August to return three rifles to him.
U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins said he ordered the rifles returned to Bates in August. At the time, federal attorneys told him they would be returned within a week.
"An order presented months and months ago would ordinarily give you ample time to follow through," Jenkins told assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Lambert.
Bates' guns were seized by federal agents following a 13-day standoff in 1988 at the Singer Farm in Marion, Summit County.
The guns, along with all other seized evidence, were held at the federal court house for the five years following the siege. They were turned over to the Salt Lake Office of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms earlier this month.
Bates filed a motion with the court on Jan. 7 asking Jenkins to hold ATF officer Robert Swehla in contempt of court for not returning the guns.
Swehla is in charge of disposing of the weapons. He told Jenkins that federal bureaucracy had delayed the return of Bates' guns.
He can't release the guns to Bates until he has also cleared the release of all other evidence through ATF's San Francisco office.
"Sometimes things just take longer than we expect," Lambert said.
But Jenkins admonished Lambert and Swehla not to take any longer on this matter.
Lambert assured Jenkins the rifles would be returned to Bates within two weeks.
Bates owns two .22-caliber rifles and a .308-caliber rifle. The guns were apparently taken from Bates' home near the Singer compound during the siege.
Federal agents seized 23 weapons from the Singer compound following the standoff. The Utah attorney general's office wants to retain the rifle that killed Corrections Officer Fred House because state attorneys believe the Utah Supreme Court may want to review some legal matters related to the shooting in the future.
The Utah Historical Society wants the .308-caliber pistol that John Singer pointed at federal agents when he was killed in 1979, Swehla said.
All other guns will be destroyed if they are not claimed by owners.