UPDATE (June 29th):
After two days in court, Blue Light's defense will be postponed until July 19th.
After the city rested their case, Blue Light's attorneys motioned for an immediate dismissal, but it was denied by the judge who ruled that more evidence was needed to prove that the bar was targeted.
Attorneys for Blue Light's owners argued in court on Wednesday that the Blue Light is being treated unfairly in the wake of the mass shooting on McCallie Avenue in front of Mary's Bar and Grill on June 5th that left 3 people dead and 14 wounded.
Mary's was cited for 5 violations after it was discovered they served beer despite an expired license. But as we reported earlier this month, 4 of those 5 citations were dismissed.
Attorneys for Blue Light filed a motion that says that is proof of unfair treatment toward the Blue Light.
“The Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board has and continues to arbitrarily and inconsistently interpret and enforce the Codes and Ordinances of the City of Chattanooga," the motion says.
The motion led to a subpoena for Chattanooga Beer Board Chairman William Glascock.
Read the full motion below:
Depend on us to keep you posted as this hearing continues.
EARLIER:
How can one of Chattanooga's most popular nightclubs be safer for everyone involved? That was the topic of debate at a hearing in Hamilton County Chancery Court Tuesday morning.
Owners of the Blue Light nightclub on Station Street, including radio personality Brian Joyce, are trying to prevent the Chattanooga Beer Board from revoking the bar's beer permit.
Since Blue Light opened there have been 48 calls made from Station Street to Chattanooga Police.
Joyce's attorney says they made an open records request to the city for those numbers but never received them.
Two of the violations were over fights that happened on Blue Light property allegedly that weren't reported. Two were for selling beer on the street out of a cart. The other two were for employees consuming alcohol.
At a beer board hearing back in November, the Chattanooga Police Department described the Blue Light as a 'disorderly establishment.' One officer claimed several issues, including security lapses and one night where two individuals believed to be Blue Light customers were found to have guns.
In response, Joyce at the time told us he believed many of those claims against him have no merit, and that he disputes "the narrative" painted by police.
In court on Tuesday, Joyce said video evidence shows the fights that took place on the disputed nights were outside on Station Street.
An officer's written testimony says the fights broke out in Blue Light and that they had to pull patrons out of the bar.
The officer also wrote down that he saw people arguing on the railing, which is Blue Light property.
The fire marshal reevaluated Blue Light and reduced the number for maximum occupancy from 249 to 197 people.
Joyce said, "The disorders were written up for, none of them occurred on our property."
Joyce's attorney argued that the Blue Light is "not guilty of any of the violations."
The attorney also suggested that the surrounding bars are guilty of the violations the Blue Light is accused of, and are deliberately targeting the Blue Light.
He claims the Blue Light is “the most popular spot on Station Street.”
"What will be shown is that the beer board in particular has orchestrated a targeted campaign trying, desperately, to shut them down because they're popular," said Joyce's attorney.
The hearing is expected to continue through Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the beer board reprimanded owners of the nearby Westbound bar for failing to report to police a fight that happened outside the bar back in February.
This is a developing story that we'll update as we learn more.