Mammoth Lakes resident, William Crosby back in court

Pictured: William Crosby/

In court last week, presiding Judge Burt Pines was in Mono County Superior Court in Mammoth to review a demurrer and motion to strike filed by defendants in the case of Crosby v. Mono County, et al. A demurrer is a pleading in a lawsuit that objects to or challenges a pleading filed by an opposing party.

William Crosby, a Mammoth Lakes resident, was arrested in 2010 on alleged violations of medical marijuana laws. In 2011, he filed a claim for damages against Mono County and the Town of Mammoth Lakes in federal district court, maintaining that he was following the medical marijuana laws.

He also claims civil rights violations, saying that officers involved in the case, including two of the defendants, Mammoth Lakes Police Department Officer Rick Moberly and retired MLPD Sergeant Paul Robles, intentionally targeted him, intended to confiscate and destroy his personal property, intended to silence and intimidate him, and engaged in illegal search and seizure.

On Thursday Judge Pines took up the Town’s objections to how the claim forms and their associated causes of actions listed were filed. Attorneys for the Town also argued that their clients are government employees and therefore immune to such claims. Judge Pines disagreed saying that such immunity only covers federal employees and is not applicable in state torts.

As of press time, Pines had not issued a ruling, but indicated he was inclined to overrule the demurrer and deny the motion to strike.