The entire [Isleton] city government spent the day cooling their heels in a Sacramento Superior Court hallway waiting to be called before a county grand jury probing last year's approval of a massive medical marijuana farm in the Delta community.
Most said they had done nothing wrong and would invoke the Fifth Amendment to refuse to answer questions in the probe, which includes allegations of kickbacks and payoffs to officials in exchange for approval of the farm.
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District Attorney Jan Scully and the grand jury entered the picture with what appears to be a political corruption probe and an attempt to stop the installation of the pot farm.
The fight has attracted some of the region's best-known lawyers to Isleton's side, including Clyde Blackmon and Christopher Lee. Another prominent legal name, William Portanova, is representing Brubeck.
"The District Attorney's Office has given us a subpoena and we're happy to respond to it in our own legal way," Portanova said. "The intent of this business is to be in full compliance with all laws."
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"I'm just not sure where this is going," said Sullivan, the police chief who has 25 years of experience with the California Highway Patrol. "That's what makes it so disheartening. I guess I'm used to being on the other side and always being cooperative and helpful." . . . He added that he planned to answer questions before the panel because "I don't have anything to hide."
"I need to maintain my credibility as chief of police and as a police officer," he added. "If anything, I will reiterate to the grand jury that the people who take the Fifth did so because they feel intimidated and scared."
Lee said that as he met with four of his clients at City Hall Tuesday night, the DA investigator who served them all with subpoenas sat in a car outside the building and refused three requests to leave, further intimidating his clients.
"What kind of Mafia wiseguy stuff is this?" Lee asked.