MAN DEMANDS PAYMENT FOR ALLEGED 10-DAY DETENTION

A Hispanic man, claiming he was jailed without cause for 10 days, is
demanding that the city of Houston pay him $150,000 and formally
renounce racial profiling.

A letter to Mayor Lee Brown said Rodolfo Zuniga Guerrero was arrested
and held for no reason other than his last name and ethnicity.

The letter, written by attorney David Gerger, said Zuniga was at a bus
stop near downtown on May 28, when a police officer asked for
identification, which Zuniga, a citizen, provided.

Nonetheless, the letter said, he was arrested without explanation and
taken to the Harris County Jail. Despite his protests of innocence,
the letter says, police made no effort to investigate further, and he
was never given a lawyer.

Zuniga later learned that his name had been confused with that of a
man wanted in San Patricio County for possession of marijuana, the
letter said.

While in jail, Zuniga made two written requests to appear before a
judge. Both were denied.

On June 7, Zuniga was taken to San Patricio County, where officials
recognized the mistake and released him. But he was forced to find his
way back to Houston, 150 miles away.

In August, Police Chief C.O. Bradford ordered officers to collect data
on the age, race and sex of every person with whom they initiate contact.

The information is to be used to determine if officers are detaining,
questioning or otherwise initiating contact with people because of
their race.

HPD spokesman John Cannon said the study is not yet complete, but that
Bradford and Brown say they do not believe racial profiling is common
in Houston.

Gerger's letter says Zuniga qualifies for compensation for wrongful
detention, arrest and jailing under state and federal laws.

Zuniga said he will accept a $150,000 settlement if the city will
"confront, study and revise or renounce" its policy of racial
profiling. If not, he said, a voluntary settlement will cost the city
$300,000.

The city has 60 days to decide. Jackie Pope, assistant to City
Attorney Anthony Hall, said Friday that the demand letter, sent
Thursday, had not yet been received.