How to resolve AdBlock issue? Sheriff's office seeks information on missing woman
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff's Office issued a Friday evening alert seeking information about a missing woman considered to be at risk.
Authorities are asking the community for help in locating 45-year-old Helen Sharp.
Sharp was last seen in Middletown on Wednesday driving a gray Toyota 4Runner with license plate 5DTY013, according to the report.
She is described as being 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 190 pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes.
If you have information that can assist in helping safely locate Sharp, call the Lake County Sheriff's Office at 707-263-2690.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Appellate court upholds local judge's ruling, denies attorney's fees to plaintiff in marijuana lawsuit
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A state appellate court has upheld a 2013 ruling by a Lake County Superior Court judge denying attorney's fees to a man who sued the county over a temporary medical marijuana ordinance.
The First Appellate District Court filed the nine-page decision in Merrill v. County of Lake on May 21.
“This case is precisely the type of case that warrants the award of attorney's fees under California's Private Attorney General Statute, as the preliminary injunction obtained in this case in 2012 vindicated an important constitutional right for the citizens of Lake County that year,” said attorney Joe Elford, who represented Don Merrill and three anonymous plaintiffs in the case.
Elford filed suit against the county on his clients' behalf in July 2012 following the Board of Supervisors' passage of a temporary ordinance limiting plant numbers according to parcel size.
The following month, Judge David Herrick granted Merrill and his three co-plaintiffs a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the ordinance that lasted until Jan. 1, 2013, allowing anyone with plants in the ground who was growing in accordance with Proposition 215 to complete the growing season.
That delay in enforcement resulted from Herrick's finding that the plaintiffs' assertion that the ordinance interfered with vested rights because the marijuana cultivation season already had begun was likely to succeed at trial.
However, Herrick had denied part of the petition, noting that Lake County's numerical limits on plants “appear to be reasonable in the same way that the set backs and screening requirements in the ordinance appear to be reasonable. The ordinance does not appear to be an unconstitutional usurpation of the Compassionate Use Act or the State’s Medical Marijuana Program. Nor does the court find that the numerical limits on plants to be an unconstitutional amendment of the Compassionate Use Act,” according to case documents.
In June 2013, before the case got to the permanent injunction phase, Merrill dropped the suit on the day he was due to respond to a motion filed by the County Counsel's Office seeking summary judgment.
The case was dropped about a month after the California Supreme Court issued a decision in the City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center Inc., which upheld local governments' land use planning powers.
Later that summer, Merrill filed a request seeking attorney's fees, arguing that his success in getting the preliminary injunction entitled him to fees, which Judge Arthur Mann denied, stating in a one-sentence decision in December 2013 that Merrill's request for attorney's fees did not meet required criteria for reimbursement requests.
The appellate court found that the case presented “a reasonable basis for the court's denial of fees.”
While Merrill and his co-plaintiffs were able to get a temporary injunction, the appellate court concluded that they failed to establish that the county's ordinance violated any rights they possessed under the Compassionate Use Act or California's Medical Marijuana Program.
Referring to case law, the court said fee awards may be justified in cases where the action has served to “vindicate an important right.”
“Here, plaintiffs failed to vindicate their claim that the Ordinance contravened state medical marijuana law,” the court said.
The justices also found that the local court could reasonably find that the plaintiffs failed to show the preliminary injunction satisfied another element needed to receive fees – that it significantly benefited the public or a large class of people.
The case's plaintiffs had claimed that “countless” patients were cultivating marijuana in compliance with state law and many of them benefited from the preliminary injunction, with “hundreds, if not thousands, of medical marijuana patients and the public in general” benefiting from the action, according to the appellate ruling.
However, the appellate court noted that they produced no evidence to support those claims, and the justices didn't agree with the plaintiffs' suggestion that an Aug. 1, 2012, memo from Community Development Director Rick Coel to the Board of Supervisors proved the injunction benefited a large class of people.
That memo had stated that the county had removed approximately 2,000 marijuana plants under the ordinance before the preliminary injunction was issued. The appellate court said the document provided no evidence of changes – if any – that the county instituted in its eradication efforts after the preliminary injunction was issued.
The injunction Herrick granted, the justices noted, did not require the county to stop eradicating outdoor marijuana grows that were noncompliant with state law.
Merrill's fee motion also could have been rejected based on the fact that he did not show the court that the “'financial burden of private enforcement' outweighed the monetary value of benefits that could be obtained in pursuing this litigation.” In other words, his declaration did not compare the expense of the litigation to the economic value of the 2012 harvest to the plaintiffs or the costs to replace it.
County Counsel Anita Grant had told Lake County News that Merrill originally had sought approximately $145,320, with court documents later indicating an additional request of $10,000.
The justices said Merrill incurred lodestar attorney fees – based on a computation of a reasonable hourly rate – of $74,000, adding, “it would be speculative on this record for the trial court to conclude that the cost of Merrill's victory greatly transcended his personal stake in the litigation.”
The ruling concluded, “In short, nothing in this record compels a finding that the short-lived preliminary injunction significantly benefited the general public or a large class of individuals. The
trial court’s denial of attorneys’ fees was not an abuse of its discretion.”
Elford said he intends to appeal the appellate court's decision.
Grant said he's entitled to do that if he wants to.
“I think the appellate opinion was very clear,” she said.
John Jensen contributed to this report.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Lakeport Police Department offers community summer safety tips
LAKEPORT, Calif. – With summer rapidly approaching, the Lakeport Police Department is offering the community important safety tips and information.
Among the issues of concern is traffic safety, which the agency said will be extremely important this summer as pedestrian and vehicular traffic increase.
The community should be aware that the summer concert series and Independence Day celebration at Library Park bring heavy traffic flow through the downtown area.
Take extra care to watch for pedestrians and bicyclists while driving around Lakeport, and remember that pedestrians do have the legal right of way.
The Lakeport Police Department will do its best to enforce this, and all other traffic laws, but also will be counting on the public to be mindful of the risks to drivers and pedestrians alike.
Pets often are innocent victims during the summer months and the police department reminds people that leaving pets in vehicles is very dangerous.
Owners should use good judgment when taking pets for a ride, as vehicles can very easily become ovens even with the windows down. Always be prepared with water if your animal is traveling with you.
For those with pickup trucks, please remember that even though the animal is in the open air, the bed of the truck can become extremely hot. Always have a bed or platform that your animal can lay or sit on to protect their feet from the heat.
Summer is garage sale season and the police department reminds the public that the city of Lakeport has an ordinance prohibiting the posting of any type of handbill or advertising on any public property in the city.
The ordinance is designed to keep public areas free from clutter and resulting litter when the signs fall down.
In addition, signs can obstruct the view of motorists therefore; signs should only be posted on private property and, only after obtaining permission, from the property owner.
The police department will be monitoring compliance with this ordinance.
The Lakeport Police Department said its teams is always happy to hear from the community; feel free to contact them with any questions or concerns.
Visit the agency at its Web page and on Facebook, call 707-263-5491 or email
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Sheriff's office warns of recent telephone scam
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff's Office is urging community members to be on their guard against a recent telephone scam that the agency said has been taking place in the county.
A report from Sgt. Corey Paulich explained that a Lake County resident received a telephone call from an individual identifying themselves as a representative of the sheriff’s office.
The caller told the local resident they owed a fine and requested bank account information. The resident felt this was suspicious and did not provide the information, Paulich said.
Such telephone scams are occurring nationwide, and Paulich urged citizens to be suspicious of any caller who identifies themselves as a law enforcement official or government employee and then demands a “fine” be paid immediately over the telephone via credit/debit card or prepaid cards (i.e., Green Dot cards).
These callers are reportedly intimidating and threatening when demanding fines be paid immediately, he said.
Law enforcement officials do not call people and demand that fines be paid immediately over the telephone, Paulich said.
If you receive a telephone call from someone impersonating a law enforcement official and have caller I.D., Paulich said to record the telephone number, ask the caller for their name, badge number, agency where they are employed, their call back telephone number and the court or case number they are calling about. Tell them you will call their agency and hang up.
Do not provide any credit/debit card or prepaid debit card information to these callers. Also, do not provide any of your personal identity information, Paulich said.
If you have additional questions regarding protecting yourself or your family from telephone or email scams you can visit the following Web sites for more information.
– www.irs.gov : For more information scams, click on “Tax Scams” under “News/Events.”
– www.stopfraud.gov : The Federal Government Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Web site will point you to what agency you need to report your fraud. They will have a link for tax fraud, insurance fraud, identity theft and many more. The Web site also contains information on how to avoid different scams.
– www.fraud.org : The National Consumer League Web site designated to provide information on current fraud scams.
– www.fbi.gov : The Federal Bureau of Investigations will investigate common fraud scams, investment related scams, Internet scams and scams targeting senior citizens.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Police make arrests for 2014 Clearlake homicide; more arrests expected
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department reported that it has made two arrests – and expects to make more – in the homicide last fall of a Hidden Valley Lake man.
Sgt. Nick Bennett said Tuesday that police have taken into custody Clearlake residents Gary Joseph Williams, 30, and Crystal Rae Pearls, 41, for participating in the murder of Guillermo Figueroa.
The 36-year-old Figueroa – a husband and father of three – was reported missing on Oct. 27 after he left to visit a friend in Clearlake, as Lake County News has reported.
Clearlake Police officers subsequently found a vehicle registered to him abandoned on Burns Valley Road, and pinged his cell phone to an area in Clearlake.
On the night of Nov. 28, police responded to a report from a resident in the 2700 block of Oleander Street regarding the discovery in his yard of a human skull, which the man believed his dog may have brought to the residence.
The following day – as teams of detectives, sheriff's deputies, K-Corps members and out-of-county law enforcement personnel combed the isolated, heavily wooded part of the city where the skull was found – a search dog discovered the partial remains of a human body about 100 yards from the residence where the skull was found.
Police said autopsy and DNA results matched the skull and remains as belonging to the same person – Figueroa.
Since then, the Clearlake Police Department, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the California State Department of Justice have been involved in a joint investigation into Figueroa's disappearance and murder, Bennett said.
Bennett said that on Friday prosecutors from the California Attorney General's Office went before a Lake County Superior Court judge seeking charges against Williams and Pearls for participating in Figueroa's murder.
Williams is charged with murder, along with special allegations that he committed the crime while involved in a robbery. He's also facing other crimes relating to the murder, according to Bennett.
Both Williams and Pearls are charged with terrorist threats, dissuading a witness, burglary and special allegations regarding threatening witnesses in the investigation, Bennett said.
Separately, Bennett said Pearls is charged with being an accessory to a crime.
Williams and Pearls have been in custody since last November after they stole a house trailer, Bennett said.
Both are being held without bail, according to jail records.
Bennett said the murder investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are expected to be made soon.
Any person with information in relation to this case is encouraged to contact Clearlake Police Det. Ryan Peterson at 707-994-8251, Extension 320, or Department of Justice Agent Heather Nelsen at 510-515-2673.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
