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PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A judge as ordered authorities to return a gun to the man who was once accused of a shooting spree along Valley freeways.
Judge Warren Granville has ordered the Arizona Department of Public Safety to return Leslie Merritt Jr.'s gun by January 31.
Merritt was arrested in connection to the freeways shootings that terrified Valley residents in the summer of 2015.He spent seven months behind bars before charges against him were dropped in April of 2016.
After his release, DPS and prosecutors still considered Merritt to be a suspect in his shootings and his gun was held as evidence.
Prosecutors argued that Merritt could not have a gun in his possession because he was arrested last year for allegedly threatening a woman in Glendale.
Defense attorneys argued that DPS no longer needs to keep the gun as evidence.