Opinion by Judge GRAHAM. 1 Crystal Lavattiata (C.L.) appeals from the judgment dismissing her petition for parental responsibilities for the child (D.T.) of Christina Trujillo (mother). We affirm and remand for determination of mother's section 14-10-119, C.R.S.2011, attorney fee request. I. Background 2 Mother and C.L. became acquainted when mother was a teenager and attended school with C.L.'s children. After mother gave birth to D.T. in 2003, she moved into C.L.'s home, and C.L....
Opinion by Judge STERNBERG. * In this unemployment benefits case, petitioner, Kathleen A. Hopkins (claimant), seeks review of a final order of the Industrial Claim Appeals Office (Panel). The Panel concluded that claimant was ineligible to receive any unemployment benefits pursuant to section 8-73-110(3)(a)(I)(B), C.R.S.2011, because she was receiving a pension that exceeded her weekly benefit amount. Claimant's base period employer, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, although...
Opinion by Judge CASEBOLT. In this mechanics' lien foreclosure action involving the priority of liens relative to a deed of trust, defendant Colorado Community Bank (CCB) appeals the summary judgment in favor of the following lien claimants: plaintiff, Ferguson Enterprises, Inc., and defendants Keybuild Solutions, Inc., Carpenters Service Inc., Autumn Landscaping, Inc., Premier Glass Solutions, Inc., SC Design, Inc., Systems Plumbing, LLC, and Colo Counter-Tops, Inc. (collectively, lien...
Opinion by Judge WEBB. In this dispute over management of a residential rental property, Barbara Wahrman, the owner and landlord, petitions under C.A.R. 4.2 for interlocutory review of the district court's order that the economic loss rule barred her breach of fiduciary duty and negligence claims against defendants, Golden West Realty, Inc., and Kathleen Smith. The petition does not explain why this order involves a controlling question of law, and we conclude that the record refutes...
Opinion by Judge MILLER. In this action seeking payment of excess proceeds tendered at a public trustee foreclosure sale, plaintiffs, Anthony and Pamela Janicek (homeowners), appeal the trial court's orders in favor of defendants, Obsideo LLC and 1502 Forrestal, LLC (collectively, Obsideo) and Snavely Development Company (Snavely). Snavely cross-appeals the trial court's denial of its request for attorney fees. We affirm. In doing so, we hold that homeowners' non-waiver of their homestead...
Opinion by Judge LOEB. Plaintiff, David Kisselman, appeals the district court's order, pursuant to C.R.C.P. 56(h), that sections 10-3-1115 and -1116, C.R.S.2011, were "inapplicable" in this action against defendant, American Family Mutual Insurance Company. We reverse and remand with directions. I. Background and Procedural History On April 4, 2005, Kisselman was injured in a car accident caused by an underinsured driver. At the time of the accident, Kisselman was covered by an American...
Opinion by Judge GABRIEL. Defendant, Bachelor Gulch Metropolitan District (Bachelor Gulch), appeals the district court's orders awarding attorney fees and costs under 42 U.S.C. 1988 to two groups of plaintiffs (plaintiffs), namely, Beaver Creek Property Owners Association, Inc. (Beaver Creek) and Strawberry Park at Beaver Creek Property Owners Association, Inc. and certain of its owners (collectively, Strawberry Park). We conclude that the district court erred in awarding attorney fees to...
Opinion by Judge J. JONES. Plaintiffs, Gregory T. Ludlow, S. Reid Ludlow, and Jean E. Cowles (together, the sellers), appeal the district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants, Lynda S. Gibbons, Brent Wilson, and Gibbons-White, Inc. (together, the brokers). The sellers also appeal the court's award of attorney fees and costs to the brokers. In the event that we reverse any part of the court's summary judgment order, the brokers conditionally cross-appeal the district...
Opinion by Judge ROTHENBERG. * In this breach of contract case, defendant, QED, Inc. (QED), appeals the trial court's judgment awarding attorney fees to plaintiff, Planning Partners International, LLC (PPI), of $188,748.80. The dispositive issue on appeal is the propriety of the court's award of those fees, and because we conclude the trial court erred as a matter of law in calculating them, we reverse and remand with directions. I. Background QED, an electrical supply company, decided to...
Opinion by Judge TERRY. In this appeal, we address as a matter of first impression the applicability of Colorado's Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) section 4-3-301, C.R.S.2011, to a factual scenario that has not been discussed in Colorado appellate case law since the 1930s. Plaintiff, Citywide Banks (Bank), appeals the order denying its motion for sale of the property owned by defendant, Brenda L. Armijo. We affirm. I. Background In 2003, Dakota Lending, LLC (Dakota) executed a promissory note...
Opinion by Judge FOX . In this medical malpractice action, plaintiff, Vasilios Haralampopoulos, by his guardian, John Haralampopoulos, appeals the judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of defendants, Jason L. Kelly, M.D., and Mauricio L. Waintrub, M.D., and the order awarding certain costs to defendants. We reverse the judgment and order and remand for a new trial. I. Background Plaintiff went to an emergency room with abdominal pain of unknown origin on November 23, 2004. Tests...
Opinion by Judge CARPARELLI. In this real property action, defendants Preston B. and Betty D. Henn (the Henns) appeal a trial court order granting a preliminary injunction against them and in favor of plaintiff, Westpac Aspen Investments, LLC (Westpac). We affirm. This case presents an issue of first impression regarding whether the merger of title doctrine extinguishes a prescriptive easement when the sole owner of the servient estate holds title to the dominant estate in joint tenancy with...
Opinion by Judge FURMAN. In this proceeding under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), sections 24-72-200.1 to -206, C.R.S.2011, plaintiff, Marilyn Marks, appeals the district court's judgment dismissing her case for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, pursuant to the motion filed by defendant, Kathryn Koch, the City Clerk of Aspen (Clerk). We reverse and remand for further proceedings. I. The Public Records at Issue Because of this case's procedural posture, all...
Opinion by Judge WEBB. Plaintiffs petition under C.A.R. 4.2 and section 13-4-102.1, C.R.S.2011, for interlocutory review of the trial court's order denying their motion to compel defendant, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), to provide them with electronic copies of their deposition transcripts so that they can review and correct the transcripts under C.R.C.P. 30(e). We conclude that the question of law presented in this order is not controlling, and therefore deny the petition. I....
Opinion by Judge PLANK. * Defendant, Giel Boles, appeals the judgments of conviction entered on jury verdicts finding him guilty of criminal attempt to commit Internet sexual exploitation of a child, Internet luring of a child, and obscenity. Specifically, he contends that the Internet luring and obscenity statutes under which he was convicted are unconstitutional, and that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the criminal attempt conviction. We conclude that the challenged statutes are...
Opinion by Judge TERRY. In this appeal, we consider the subject matter jurisdiction of Colorado courts in a suit alleging discrimination in a place of public accommodation under part 6 of the Colorado Civil Rights Act, sections 24-34-601 to -605, C.R.S.2010(CRA). We conclude that district courts and county courts have concurrent jurisdiction over claims brought under part 6 of the CRA, and that the trial court therefore erred in dismissing the CRA claim of plaintiff, April Arnold. We also...
Opinion by Judge FOX. Plaintiff, Michael N. Kelso (Kelso), appeals the trial court's order granting Rickenbaugh Cadillac Co.'s (Rickenbaugh) motion to dismiss with prejudice. We affirm. I. Background On July 9, 2008, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Kelso a right-to-sue notice based on alleged Title VII violations by Rickenbaugh, his former employer. Kelso then sued Rickenbaugh over his termination on September 15, 2008, in Denver District Court, case number 08CV8312 (first...
Opinion by Judge MILLER. Plaintiff, Monica David Vickery, appeals the district court's dismissal of her claims against defendants, the Evelyn V. Trumble Living Trust; Kerry Vickery, individually and as trustee of the trust; and Merry Gayle Vickery, as well as its denial of plaintiff's motion for post-judgment relief. We agree with the district court that the complaint fails to state a claim; therefore, we affirm both orders and remand the case with directions. I. Background The principal...
Opinion by Judge ROY. Plaintiffs, Turene Lombard (invitee) and Pueblo School District # 60 (school district), appeal from the judgment entered on a jury verdict and the order awarding costs in favor of defendants, Colorado Outdoor Education Center, Inc. and Sanborn Western Camps, Inc. (owners), in this action under section 13-21-115, C.R.S.2010 (premises liability act). We affirm the judgment, and affirm the order awarding costs in part and vacate it in part. In February 2000 at the request...
Opinion by Judge TAUBMAN. Plaintiff, Oloyea D. Wallin, appeals the trial court's judgment dismissing his complaint and awarding attorney fees in favor of defendants, deputy state public defenders Janene McCabe and Sean McDermott. We affirm. I. Background Following his conviction in January 2004 of second degree assault, Wallin filed a complaint in April 2008, alleging that his trial counsel, McCabe and McDermott, committed malpractice and negligence while representing him. In July 2009,...
