Pubdate: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) Copyright: 2011 The Press-Enterprise Company Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html Website: http://www.pe.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830 Author: Jeff Horseman, The Press-Enterprise MEDICAL MARIJUANA CO-OP VIOLATED ORDER Lawyers for Temecula are accusing a self-described medical marijuana cooperative of violating a temporary restraining order that barred the establishment from distributing marijuana. A court commissioner on Tuesday set an April 26 hearing date for Cooperative Patients' Services to prove it did not violate the order, said Peter Pierce, an attorney with Richards, Watson & Gershon, which is representing the city. The city says that the establishment, which operates out of a rented space on the southern end of Old Town Front Street, sold $50 worth of marijuana to an undercover sheriff's deputy. The papers filed Monday include a sworn statement by Deputy Wesley Martinelli, who said he saw another deputy enter the establishment and come out with marijuana. Jonathan Preston, a lawyer for the establishment, denied the allegations. He declined to elaborate because of the upcoming court hearing. Temecula is asking a judge to fine the establishment $10,000 and order it to pay $4,000 toward the city's attorneys' fees. Last week, the city convinced a judge to issue a court order barring the establishment from making marijuana available anywhere in the city, operating without a valid certificate of occupancy or tax permit and "maintaining public nuisances" on its property. City officials say the establishment violates Temecula's ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. Lawyers for the establishment immediately appealed the ruling, enforcement of which was delayed so an appeal could be filed with the California Fourth District Court of Appeal. The establishment's leaders contend it is not a dispensary, but a nonprofit, agricultural co-op in which legitimate medical marijuana patients exchange the drug with one another. Its lawyers hope the Fourth District court will issue an order delaying the ruling longer, while the larger legal issue of cities' ability to ban medical marijuana establishments is decided. A medical marijuana facility in Wildomar reopened after the San Diego-based appellate court issued a stay. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.