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A Riverside County Superior Court judge issued a tentative ruling Tuesday ordering a medical marijuana dispensary to shut down pending trial with the city of Rancho Mirage.
In the tentative order, Judge Harold Hopp directs Rancho Mirage to prepare the final order, which is expected to take effect after a hearing at 8:30 a.m. today at the Indio courthouse, City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said.
The Spot Collective, 69-730 Highway 111, is not represented by an attorney, according to the Superior Court website. A woman who answered the phone at the dispensary said no one would be available for comment until next week.
The other defendant in the case is landlord Fin/Co Partners, represented by Palm Desert lawyer Scott McClanahan. He was not available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Hopp said the collective is violating the California Building Code by operating without a business license, as the city alleges. The dispensary is using the state's medical marijuana laws as a defense, but these don't have "much effect beyond providing a defense to California criminal charges," he wrote.
Spot Collective opened last summer in the One Mirage Place complex near City Hall. The city filed the suit in August.
The case was originally assigned to Judge Randall White, who ruled the city's ordinance banning dispensaries invalid under the California constitution in 2011 after another dispensary shut down by the city followed suit.
That ruling is under appeal, and the Spot Collective case was reassigned to Hopp.
The Spot Collective was broken into in December, with the sheriff's department making an arrest within 24 hours and returning merchandise, including marijuana, to the owner.
Rancho Mirage is in litigation with at least four medical marijuana collectives.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: mydesert.com
Author: Blake Herzog
Contact: Feedback | The Desert Sun | mydesert.com
Website: The Desert Sun | Palm Springs and Coachella Valley news
In the tentative order, Judge Harold Hopp directs Rancho Mirage to prepare the final order, which is expected to take effect after a hearing at 8:30 a.m. today at the Indio courthouse, City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said.
The Spot Collective, 69-730 Highway 111, is not represented by an attorney, according to the Superior Court website. A woman who answered the phone at the dispensary said no one would be available for comment until next week.
The other defendant in the case is landlord Fin/Co Partners, represented by Palm Desert lawyer Scott McClanahan. He was not available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Hopp said the collective is violating the California Building Code by operating without a business license, as the city alleges. The dispensary is using the state's medical marijuana laws as a defense, but these don't have "much effect beyond providing a defense to California criminal charges," he wrote.
Spot Collective opened last summer in the One Mirage Place complex near City Hall. The city filed the suit in August.
The case was originally assigned to Judge Randall White, who ruled the city's ordinance banning dispensaries invalid under the California constitution in 2011 after another dispensary shut down by the city followed suit.
That ruling is under appeal, and the Spot Collective case was reassigned to Hopp.
The Spot Collective was broken into in December, with the sheriff's department making an arrest within 24 hours and returning merchandise, including marijuana, to the owner.
Rancho Mirage is in litigation with at least four medical marijuana collectives.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: mydesert.com
Author: Blake Herzog
Contact: Feedback | The Desert Sun | mydesert.com
Website: The Desert Sun | Palm Springs and Coachella Valley news
