Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this original C.A.R. 21 proceeding, we review the trial court's order striking the testimony of plaintiff's rebuttal expert witness, Dr. Susan Shott. We also consider the trial court's order striking portions of the testimony of two previously disclosed expert witnesses, Dr. Harriet T. Cokely and Dr. Pamela E. Wilson. We hold that the trial court abused its discretion when it excluded Dr. Shott's rebuttal testimony because her testimony...
Justice HOBBS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 We granted certiorari to review the decision of the Colorado Court of Appeals in People v. Kazadi, 284 P.3d 70 (Colo.App. 2011). 1 In this case we must determine whether a defendant who has pleaded guilty in return for a deferred judgment and sentence may seek postconviction review of his felony plea under Crim. P. 35(c). We agree with the Court of Appeals that he may not. Nevertheless, he can seek to withdraw the guilty plea pursuant...
CHIEF JUSTICE BENDER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this appeal, we review the court of appeals' unpublished decision in Bacheller v. General Steel Domestic Sales, LLC , No. 09CA1383 (Colo. App. Apr. 22, 2010) (not published pursuant to C.A.R. 35(f)), to determine the applicability of Protect Our Mountain Environment, Inc. v. District Court , 677 P.2d 1361 (Colo. 1984) (" POME ") to this case and the propriety of the trial court's decision to treble an exemplary damages award....
Chief Justice BENDER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this appeal, we review the court of appeals' unpublished decision in Bacheller v. General Steel Domestic Sales, LLC, No. 09CA1383, 2010 WL 1611081 (Colo.App. Apr. 22, 2010) (not published pursuant to C.A.R. 35(f)), to determine the applicability of Protect Our Mountain Environment, Inc. v. District Court, 677 P.2d 1361 (Colo.1984) (" POME ") to this case and the propriety of the trial court's decision to treble an exemplary...
Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this original C.A.R. 21 proceeding we review the trial court's grant of summary judgment after it found that 71 days was not a reasonable time for purposes of "relating back" an amended complaint pursuant to Dillingham v. Greeley Publishing Company, 701 P.2d 27 , 31 (Colo.1985), and C.R.C.P. 15(c). In fact, under Dillingham the proper measure for relation back under C.R.C.P. 15(c) is the time between the filing date of the...
Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this hospital debt collection action, we interpret section 13-80-103.5(1)(a), C.R.S. (2011), and hold that its six-year limitations period applies in cases, like this one, that arise out of an implied in fact contract for liquidated medical expenses. Contrary to the court of appeals' holding in Portercare v. Lego, ___ P.3d ___, ___, 2010 WL 3584394 (Colo.App.2010) (selected for official publication as modified), the applicability of...
Chief Justice BENDER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this appeal, we review the court of appeals' opinion in Churchill v. Univ. of Colo. at Boulder, ___ P.3d ___, 2010 WL 5099682 (Colo.App.2010). The underlying civil action involves claims brought by Professor Ward Churchill pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 (2011) after his tenured employment was terminated by the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado. Churchill alleges that the Regents violated his constitutionally protected...
Justice EID delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 The dispute before us arises out of a rental car contract between Petitioner/Cross-Respondent Judith Koenig ("Koenig") and BDD Enterprises, LLC d/b/a National Car Rental at the Durango Airport ("National"). Koenig hit a deer while driving a rental vehicle. After the accident, National assigned its damage claim to Respondent/Cross-Petitioner PurCo Fleet Services, Inc. ("PurCo"). PurCo sued Koenig to collect damages related to the incident,...
Justice HOBBS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 We granted certiorari in Mintz v. Accident & Injury Medical Specialists, PC, ___ P.3d ___, 2010 WL 4492222 (Colo.App.2010) (selected for official publication) to determine, "Whether an attorney owes fiduciary duties to third parties who are entitled to funds from Colorado Lawyer Trust Account Foundation (COLTAF) trust accounts." The court of appeals reversed a judgment of the trial court and held that an attorney did not owe fiduciary...
Justice EID delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Grand Valley Citizens' Alliance, along with Cary Weldon, Ruth Weldon, Wesley Kent, Marcia Kent, and Western Colorado Congress (collectively, "GVC") filed a complaint against the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and others (the "Commission") alleging that it was entitled to a hearing on an application for permit to drill ("APD") pursuant to section 34-60-108(7), C.R.S. (2011), of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act (the "Act") and...
Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this appeal, we address whether a failure to strictly comply with C.R.C.P. 120's notice requirements mandates setting aside a completed foreclosure sale. We conclude that when the parties received actual notice which afforded them an opportunity to present their objections and no prejudice resulted, we will not disturb a completed foreclosure sale. Accordingly, we affirm the court of appeals' judgment with respect to Rule 120 notification....
JUSTICE M RQUEZ delivered the Opinion of the Court. JUSTICE COATS dissents. 1 Pursuant to C.A.R. 21.1, we agreed to answer a certified question of law posed to us by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado. The question arises out of an adversary proceeding in which the plaintiff, in his capacity as Chapter 7 Trustee, seeks to assert his "strong arm" powers under 11 U.S.C. 544(a)(3) to avoid the defendants' security interest in the debtor's property and to recover...
Chief Justice BENDER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this appeal, we review the order of the district court holding that an attorney does not violate Rule 1.8(e) of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct when he pays the fees of an appellate attorney retained to represent his client on appeal. 2 After losing on her Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claim at the county court, Elizabeth Flood's trial counsel, Gary Merenstein, paid the fees of several appellate...
Justice EID delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In 2006, Jefferson County purchased securities through Capital Securities, Inc., Jerry Manning, and Adam Alves (collectively, "Capital Securities"), a purchase the county later determined was unlawful under section 24-75-601.1, C.R.S. (2008). The county sued Capital Securities and, among other things, sought to disgorge the commissions earned by Capital Securities under a theory of common law restitution. Both the trial court and the court of...
Justice BOATRIGHT delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this appeal, we review an unpublished opinion by the court of appeals reversing the trial court's allocation of primary parental responsibilities to the half-sister of a minor child on grounds that the sister lacked standing to petition for an allocation of parental responsibilities. The court of appeals construed sections 14-10-123(1)(b) and (1)(c), C.R.S. (2011), as requiring that, in order to establish standing to petition for an...
Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this eminent domain action, we address whether section 38-5-105, C.R.S. (2011), grants condemnation authority to a company for the construction of a petroleum pipeline. We conclude that the General Assembly did not grant, expressly or by clear implication, the power of eminent domain to companies for the construction of pipelines conveying petroleum. Section 38-5-105 therefore does not grant condemnation authority to Sinclair...
Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this original proceeding under C.A.R. 21, we determine whether section 10-1-135, C.R.S. (2011), applies prospectively to this action and precludes admission of evidence of the amounts paid by the plaintiff's insurance company pursuant to the plaintiff's medical expense coverage. We hold that the trial court was correct in applying section 10-1-135 here because the statute pertains to cases pending recovery as of August 11, 2010. Further,...
Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Qwest Corporation and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) appeal the district court's judgment in favor of the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) reversing the PUC's decision setting the maximum rate for certain telephone services. We conclude that the PUC regularly pursued its authority because it considered all of the statutorily-mandated factors and its decision is supported by substantial evidence. We therefore reverse...
Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In this pre-verdict collateral source case, we determine whether the court of appeals erred when it held that the trial court incorrectly admitted evidence of the amount paid by an insurance provider for the medical expenses Respondent Larry Crossgrove incurred as a result of Petitioner Wal-Mart's negligence. We hold that the court of appeals correctly held that the trial court should have excluded evidence of the amounts paid because the...
Justice COATS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Reynolds and the owners of several other ditches diverting water from La Jara Creek appealed directly to this court from an order of the water court denying their claim for declaratory relief. The plaintiff-ditch owners sought a declaration to the effect that their appropriative rights to La Jara Creek water were not limited to water flowing into the Creek from the San Luis Valley Drain Ditch. Without directly addressing the merits of their...
