SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A handful of supporters for mayoral candidate Larry Turner held a demonstration outside City Hall Tuesday morning as a date for a civil trial in the lawsuit challenging his residency in San Diego was set by a judge for several weeks after election day.
The attorney who brought the case, Bob Ottilie, was initially pushing for the hearing to take place prior to the deadline to vote in the primary election on Mar. 5, arguing it was crucial to ensure all candidates are qualified to assume the office.
The judge presiding over the suit ultimately set the trial hearing for Mar. 29, saying it would be the earliest date possible based on requests for Turner to testify on the timeline of his move into the city of San Diego and where his permanent home was when he filed to run for office.
“The decision is in this case — where was Mr. Turner domiciled from Nov. 7 to Dec. 7. It’s a very simple issue,” Ottilie said during the hearing on Tuesday. “This challenge questions the qualifications of someone who may not live in our city to lead our city.”
Turner, who was present at the rally, has denied the allegations detailed in the 61-page complaint and subsequent private investigator declaration.
“I’ve been a resident of San Diego far before the requirements for this and we’ll get a chance to prove that,” Turner told FOX 5 after the hearing.
He has also speculated about the sincerity of the effort by Ottilie and his client, Helen VanDiver, decrying the lawsuit as a form of election interference on behalf of Mayor Todd Gloria to help his bid for a second term.
“Here we are a year before an election trying to pull some dirty tricks to try to win (the election) with some kind of lawsuit. It’s really disgusting,” Turner said.
Ottilie refuted this in a conversation with FOX 5 on Thursday, saying “this case was brought by someone who just lives out of the neighborhood and cares about San Diego.”
“I have no idea that the mayor even is aware of this case,” he continued. “The mayor is not involved in this case.”
The attorney for the County Registrar of Voters also expressed concern over the timing of the case during Tuesday’s hearing, as ballots in the Mar. 5 election have already been cast and are being processed by the office.
“It’s already too late. Voters have already voted, in fact the Registrar has already started processing votes. The relief they are requesting is no longer going to be available,” county attorney Fernando Pierce said to the judge, adding that this could have been solved in a pre-election challenge.
“That’s the very purpose for that process to take place,” he continued. “That particular code provision would allow the remedy that they seek, which is to make sure that an unqualified candidate doesn’t make it onto the ballot.”
While the hearing will take place after the election, there are steps the city can take in case the court decides Turner is ineligible to run for mayor based on the claims detailed in the 61-page complaint, should he place in the top two spots following the primary election.
In the event that a candidate becomes disqualified or otherwise unable to run after the primary, the city’s election law would allow for whoever came in third place to move on to the general in their place, according to the city attorney’s office.
