Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office and the city must prove why they still need Errol Houston Jr.'s handgun, three years after he last faced a criminal count, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, scrapping its earlier opinion in the case, could lead to a change in how prosecutors and police view their right to hold on to seized evidence in criminal cases that are dropped but still could be prosecuted later.

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