The electronic gate to JCM Farming Inc. near Thermal includes a stern warning for trespassers. / Keith Matheny Desert Sun file photo
undated aerial photo of JCM Farming Inc compound near Thermal that is embroiled in a no-fly controversy.
Airing their opinions
JCM FARMING: “There is widespread prejudice against the plaintiff — so widespread, intense and outspoken, through the press and otherwise — to warrant a conclusion that no fair trial may be held (locally),” JCM Farming Andrew Rauch said in a statement.
BALLOONISTS: “JCM wants to shut down any public access or comment related to the case. JCM really hates being in the sunlight,” balloonist attorney Robert Gilliland Jr. said.
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"A directed vilification campaign ... orchestrated in the press" against an east valley olive farm suing area balloonists has led to a "real, credible threat" against the farm's owners, JCM Farming Inc. attorney Andrew Rauch said in Riverside County Superior Court in Indio today.
Rauch made his comments in an emergency hearing in which JCM sought to have the court seal records, impose a gag order on parties in the lawsuit, and change the venue for any jury trial out of Riverside County due to a jury pool "poisoned" by coverage of the case.
Judge Randall White said he would keep conditionally sealed a thick envelope of documents Rauch submitted in support of his motions as he takes the issue of whether an emergency hearing is in order "under submission."
When asked by White why an emergency hearing was necessary, Rauch replied, "The emergency is to the personal safety to the employees and their families of JCM Farming." Rauch provided the court with an affidavit from consultant Johnnie Woods, a former 30-year law enforcement officer who worked with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, who asserts that "past vilification in the press" and "Internet blogs" have resulted in the threat to JCM.
White rejected the trial venue portion of Rauch's motion.
"We won't be considering a change of venue motion today," he said, later adding, "I think that would be totally inappropriate."
White also expressed a disinclination toward imposing a gag order in the lawsuit.
"I recall from U.S. Supreme Court rulings and California Supreme Court rulings that there is such a thing as prior restraint in a First Amendment context," he said, referring to a longstanding legal interpretation of the Constitution prohibiting government from banning expression of ideas prior to their publication.
"It does not appear to the court that it is appropriate to hear such an order."
Rauch said he does not seek to restrain the press and the public's speech, but to prevent attorneys and parties in the lawsuits from making "extrajudicial" comments. But Rauch also cited comments by bloggers on The Desert Sun's website as indicating a potential threat to the farm, which is owned by John C. and Carol Marrelli and their daughter, Marilena Marrelli.
"Incendiary comments have been made to the press -- including the statements that were made to the press last Friday -- and the incendiary comments that have been made in Internet blogging by The Desert Sun yesterday that resulted in many Internet blogging comments last night, plus comments that are made today in the newspaper, are part of this credible and real threat to the safety and security of our family," Rauch said.
"It's a fire that's burning. And we're just asking the court not to let anybody throw any more logs on the fire until we have a hearing ... on these issues."
Dan Parlow, a co-counsel for the balloonist defendants in JCM's suit, said the correct remedy for a perceived threat from "vague and anonymous Internet postings" is to issue an order restraining the person making a threat, "not to issue a prior restraint of speech and prevent the press and the public from knowing about this public forum and turning it into a private cult."
Rauch said some of the documents he intended his motion to keep sealed were "made moot" because "I'm reading the contents of these documents that are under seal on the front page of the newspaper this morning." He added that the thick, sealed support documents he presented to the judge included copies of blog postings, prompting White to question why they would require secrecy.
"Internet blogs, of necessity, would be on the World Wide Web," he said.
Balloonists' co-counsel Robert Gilliland Jr. said JCM had not adequately explained the need for an emergency hearing. He cited case law in which courts ruled prior restraint of speech only justified in extreme situations such as "to prevent the dissemination of information about troop movements during wartime, or to suppress information that would set in motion a nuclear holocaust."
"Clearly this a draconian measure and request by the plaintiff," Gilliland said.
JCM is suing 15 local balloonists or balloon companies, and a pest-control flight operator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging they create a nuisance, privacy invasion and safety hazard by flying too low over JCM's 80-acre farm off Avenue 54 between Monroe and Jackson streets in an unincorporated area south of Indio near the Vista Santa Rosa community.
Privacy is clearly a high priority at the farm, which features 24-foot-high, 4-foot-thick security walls with windowed towers at the corners, and an encrypted, electronic security gate with signs warning that trespassers will be met with armed response, guard dogs and no exit.
Despite its aversion to allegedly low and nearby flights by balloonists, JCM last year sought approval from Riverside County planners for its own private helipad with multiple helicopter flights into and out of its property.
Gilliland in today's hearing noted that JCM earlier this year hired its own press spokeswoman, Nancy Conrad, who has outlined the farm's positions both in print and on television.
"Clearly, when it suits their purpose, they are more than happy to make public statements and use the press to their advantage," Gilliland said. "But when there is freedom of thought and discourse among the public about the merits of this case, suddenly it becomes a credible threat."
It is not known when White may rule on Rauch's motion. The lawsuit is slated for a July 15 settlement conference and a Nov. 28 trial date.
Keith Matheny is an investigative reporter for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at keith.matheny@thedesertsun.com or (760) 778-4693. Follow on Twitter @keithmatheny
