YOUNGSTOWN - Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum has rejected an effort by the owner and six residents of the California Palms Addiction Recovery Center to get back into the Austintown facility now under control of a Los Angeles investment firm.

The judge issued a decision denying a preliminary injunction sought by the former Palms residents against Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene, whose deputies evicted the residents on April 21, turning ownership of the facility to Pender Capital due to a $4 million debt.

Judge Krichbaum noted several reasons for the denial, including that an injunction would usurp the property owner's rights to possess its property, weighing against the public interest.

California Palms still has a case pending before the Seventh District Court of Appeals.