JEFF QUACKENBUSH | Press Democrat |
A decision is still pending nearly seven months after a trial in Napa County’s lawsuit against Hoopes Vineyard over permits for tastings. Friday, the judge faulted the vintner for improperly bringing forward new evidence.
A Napa County judge has denied an attempt by a Yountville vintner to dismiss the county’s 2-year-old lawsuit over permitting issues and rebuffed a call for a new trial on newly discovered evidence.
After a morning hearing Friday, Napa County Superior Court judge Mark Boessenecker issued a three-page ruling that afternoon. He wrote that he has not made a decision on the 11-day trial early this year, so the assertion from Hoopes Vineyard’s legal team of “incurable prejudice at trial” is “impossible to determine.”
Hoopes had asked the court to dismiss the case “on the grounds that post-trial discovery of [Napa] County records exposed government misconduct that denied Defendants a fair trial,” the filing said.
“Specifically, the records at issue show the disputed property entitlements were, in fact, recognized in official records, by the County, but the County withheld these records. The County also withheld related documentation that the County altered Defendants’ property records to delete the disputed entitlements without notice and without explanation.”
Boessenecker noted that Hoopes did not request the allegedly withheld documents until after trial and faulted Hoopes for presenting new evidence in her reply documents, calling it “procedurally improper.” The judge went on to hold that the vintner’s legal team didn’t follow the proper statutory procedure for claiming that not having the alleged new evidence prejudiced Hoopes at trial.
The county sued the winery, proprietor Lindsay Hoopes and related ventures in October 2022, allegingthey broke county rules for hosting unsanctioned tasting events at the 6204 Washington St. property.
The local government’s argument is Hoopes is not allowed to host tasting or other hospitality activities under its 1984 small-winery exemption from the general rule that wine production facilities get county permits.
Meanwhile, Lindsay Hoopes has taken related matters to a federal court. On Thursday , Hoopes joined with two other Napa Valley wineries to make commercial-free-speech and other constitutional arguments in a lawsuit against the county in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
Editor’s note, Sept. 11, 2024, 8:45 a.m.: This story has been updated to clarify why judge Mark Boessenecker found the filings from the Hoopes team to be “procedurally improper.”
Jeff Quackenbush covers wine, construction and real estate. Reach him at [email protected] or 707-521-4256.