A New Orleans man is suing the city and its district attorney for refusing to give back a gun that police
seized when he was arrested on drug and firearms charges that were later dropped.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed the federal lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Errol Houston Jr., who was arrested last year following a traffic stop. The lawsuit says the district attorney's office declined to prosecute Houston but has refused to return his .40-caliber firearm.Houston's lawsuit claims District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro has instituted a policy that firearms seized during arrests will not be returned to their owners. The ACLU says that policy violates Houston's constitutional rights. "Mr. Houston has done nothing wrong. There are no criminal
charges against him. His firearm, which he is and was entitled to carry, has been confiscated for no reason," ACLU of Louisiana executive director Marjorie R. Esman said in a statement. Cannizzaro says his office decides on a "case by case basis" whether to return confiscated guns. "There is no policy that we will not return weapons," he said. Cannizzaro said he doesn't know why one of his predecessors refused to prosecute Houston, whom he said had a gun under the
floor board of his car when police stopped him. "I have a serious question as to why this charge was refused in
the first place," he said. Police Superintendent Warren Riley also is named as a defendant
in the suit.
