Oklahoma Supreme Court rules in favor of pipe shop

The Friendly Market in Norman was shut down after a raid in 2015.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ended a two-year legal fight between a pipe shop and a Republican prosecutor in a liberal college town.

The court on Monday ruled in favor of returning hundreds of glass pipes that were seized in 2015 from the now-closed Friendly Market in Norman.

District Attorney Greg Mashburn pursued drug-related charges against shop owner Rob Cox and his clerks, alleging they sold drug paraphernalia. They said the items were legal, refused plea deals and insisted on trials, which ended in acquittals and a hung jury.

Cox has been trying to recuperate seized inventory valued at $15,000. The Supreme Court rejected the state’s attempt to revisit a judge’s decision ordering the property returned. The lower-court judge said he couldn’t determine whether the confiscated items were drug paraphernalia.