Squatter Lawsuit Fails

The squatters who tried to steal land from a Los Angeles developer lost their case in court:

A judge Wednesday upheld the sale of an urban garden to a developer for more than $5 million but those who once worked the now-bulldozed plots vowed to keep trying to reclaim the land.

"They will not buckle. We fully intend to appeal," Dan Stormer, an attorney for the gardeners, said outside court.

In a 19-page ruling read to a packed courtroom, Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix rejected point by point the contentions in a lawsuit filed against developer Ralph Horowitz and the city over a 2003 deal that sold him back land originally seized from him through eminent domain.

At least the losers were gracious:

A representative of the gardeners who goes by the single name Tezozomoc ("Eyechart") said outside court that the farmers were disappointed by the judge's ruling.

"It seemed that Horowitz didn't need a lawyer," Tezozomoc charged. "She did such a great work for him. I hope she got a good check out of it."

This appeal has no chance. Eyechart and his buddies need to move on.