Assistant city attorney arrested after joint fell from his pocket in court

Business was brisk inside New Orleans Parish magistrate court on Monday afternoon as criminal defendants filled up the back rows while police sat waiting to testify. That's when a joint fell out of attorney Jason Cantrell 's pocket and onto the floor in front of NOPD officers.

Cantrell, 43, is an assistant city attorney and son of Magistrate Commissioner Harry Cantrell. He lost in a race for a juvenile court judgeship in 2009. Cantrell was cited and let go under a city policy for low-level marijuana cases, police said. An officer said Cantrell was a first-time offender. He was issued a summons for simple possession of marijuana, said Officer Garry Flot, an NOPD spokesman.



Flot said Cantrell was talking to an officer when the joint flew. Sources painted a comical picture of the incident, saying a pair of police officers glanced at the joint on the ground, then at each other before making arguably the easiest collar in the annals of policework. Officers were seen chuckling as their colleagues led Cantrell out of the courtroom at about 4:15 p.m. to write him up.

Cantrell was not working as a city attorney when he lost the joint, said Ryan Berni, a spokesman for Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office. He was suspended without pay pending an investigation, Berni said. Cantrell has practiced civil and criminal law in New Orleans for 17 years, including six as a public defender in Juvenile Court. His wife, LaToya Cantrell, is a candidate for the District B seat on the City Council.