People ex rel. City of Dana Point v. Holistic Health

A medical marijuana collective, Holistic Health, and its president, Garrison Williams (collectively, Holistic Health), appeal from the *1020 trial court’s entry of judgment in favor of the City of Dana Point (the City) following the City’s summary judgment motion on nuisance abatement and illegal business practices causes of action. Holistic Health contends summary judgment was improper because triable issues of fact existed on a critical disputed issue: whether Holistic Health, incorporated as a nonprofit, actually operated in that manner in compliance with state medical marijuana law embodied in the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (the CUA) (Health & Saf. Code, § 11362.5; all further statutory references are to this code unless noted), the Medical Marijuana Program Act (the MMPA) (§ 11362.7 et seq.) and Attorney General guidelines (the Guidelines) concerning medical marijuana dispensaries. Holistic Health also challenges as excessive the trial court’s imposition of multimillion-dollar civil penalties, and argues the court failed to consider relevant evidence, improperly imposed the fines on Williams personally, and committed other legal errors.

As we explain, the record…