March 31, 2026
A California federal judge has vacated sanctions imposed on Kern County's attorney in a suit alleging the county and state law enforcement illegally destroyed 500 acres of legal hemp owned by Apothio LLC, saying a magistrate judge didn't follow the proper rules in imposing those sanctions.
March 13, 2026
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Kern County and its Sheriff's Office, and hemp grower Apothio LLC are pushing for wins in a suit from Apothio alleging that its hemp crop was illegally raided and destroyed.
November 13, 2025
A California federal judge has sanctioned an attorney for a California county and its sheriff's office over bad faith conduct during discovery in a suit over 500 acres of bulldozed hemp crop, saying the attorney's arguments against the sanction show a fundamental misunderstanding of his obligations.
February 14, 2025
A California federal judge has partially reconsidered her prior order denying Kern County and its police officers' bid to dismiss claims by a hemp grower alleging they wrongly bulldozed 500 acres of crops, allowing the company's Fourth Amendment excessive destruction claim to proceed, but dismissing its due process claims.
May 26, 2022
A California cannabinoid research organization has filed an updated complaint in its suit alleging the Kern County Sheriff's Office wrongly bulldozed $1 billion worth of hemp crop, saying newly acquired evidence shows how a sheriff's sergeant deceived courts into granting a warrant that led to the destruction.
January 11, 2021
A California federal court paused a suit accusing officers of the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife of illegally bulldozing 500 acres of a farm's hemp crop worth $1 billion based on a flawed search warrant.
November 13, 2020
California's Department of Fish and Wildlife has asked a federal judge to delay a lawsuit against it over claims that officers unnecessarily destroyed a $1 billion hemp crop, after the farm's CEO was allegedly hit with criminal drug charges.