Opinion by CHIEF JUDGE DAVIDSON 1 Plaintiff, Adolescent and Family Institute of Colorado, Inc., appeals from the district court's declaratory judgment in favor of defendant, Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Behavioral Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD). The court determined that defendant's regulation, which required plaintiff to submit confidential patient information to defendant, did not violate state or federal confidentiality statutes as applied to...
Opinion by Judge GABRIEL. 1 In this appeal by the People from the district court's order dismissing various theft by deception charges against the defendant, Kirk Mitchell Cito, we must determine the meaning of section 16-5-401(4.5), C.R.S.2012. That statute provides, in pertinent part, that "[t]he period within which a prosecution must be commenced shall begin to run upon discovery of the criminal act" for, among other offenses, theft. 16-5-401(4.5)(c), C.R.S.2012 2 As a matter of...
Opinion by JUDGE GABRIEL. 1 In this action concerning the interpretation of a payment provision in a construction contract, plaintiff, Extreme Construction Co. (Extreme), appeals the amount of the monetary judgment that it obtained against defendant, RCG Glenwood, LLC (RCG), and the judgment entered in favor of defendant, Mike Spradlin. RCG cross-appeals the trial court's award of attorney fees, costs, and certain prejudgment interest to Extreme, and the court's denial of RCG's own request...
Opinion by JUDGE BOORAS. 1 Plaintiff, Raptor Education Foundation, Inc. (REF), appeals the trial court's summary judgment in favor of defendant, State of Colorado, Department of Revenue, Division of Motor Vehicles (the Department). REF also challenges the denial of its C.R.C.P. 59(d)(6) motion for a new trial. We reverse and remand for further proceedings. I. Background 2 This is the parties' second appeal, arising from a series of developments following the opinion in the first appeal,...
Opinion by JUDGE GABRIEL. 1 Plaintiff, Carolyn K. Harner, appeals the judgment entered in favor of defendant, Dr. James B. Chapman, and the denial of her motion for post-trial relief. 2 We first conclude that Harner failed properly to raise on appeal her apparent contention that the evidence was insufficient to establish that Chapman was not negligent. Accordingly, we decline to address that issue. 3 Next, we conclude that (1) the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury,...
Opinion by JUDGE CASEBOLT. 1 In this automobile accident case, plaintiff, Michelle Banning, appeals the judgment awarding her damages following a jury verdict against defendant, William T. Prester. She contends the court erred in giving a jury instruction concerning mitigation of damages and in admitting certain evidence. Prester cross-appeals, contending that the trial court should have offset his recovery of costs against the judgment for Banning instead of entering two separate judgments....
Opinion by Judge MILLER. 1 Defendant, Russ T. Diamonds, Inc., appeals the trial court's judgment in favor of plaintiff, BSLNI, Inc. Diamonds contends that (1) the trial court should have awarded attorney fees and costs when it dismissed BSLNI's tort claim and (2) the trial court should have granted Diamonds' pretrial motion to dismiss, motion for directed verdict, and motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, because BSLNI failed to provide expert testimony on the professional...
Opinion by Judge FOX. 1 In this probate action concerning the disposition of the proceeds of a life insurance policy, we affirm the trial court's dismissal of petitioner Laurel M. Christensen's claims and the grant of partial summary judgment in favor of Dawn Wilson, in her capacity as personal representative of her brother Jeffrey M. Johnson's estate (the Estate). I. Background 2 Johnson and Christensen married in 2000. In 2001, Johnson purchased a life insurance policy, and named...
Opinion by Judge LOEB. 1 In this personal injury action involving a road construction project, plaintiff, Gail Collard, appeals the summary judgment entered in favor of defendant, Vista Paving Corporation (Vista). Specifically, she contends the district court erred in ruling that Vista did not owe her a duty of care under either the Premises Liability Act or under common law negligence. Collard also appeals the district court's order awarding costs to Vista. We affirm the summary judgment in...
Opinion by Judge FOX. 1 Plaintiff, Mark V. Shoen, appeals the judgment entered in favor of defendant, Dr. Sam Shoen, following a jury trial on Mark's defamation claims. We affirm. I. Background 2 L.S. Shoen, the founder of U-Haul International, Inc., had twelve children, including Sam and Mark. L.S. distributed shares of U-Haul stock to each of his children. 3 In the mid-1970s, a rivalry over U-Haul's management began among L.S.'s four eldest sons — Sam, Mark, Joe, and Michael. The...
Opinion by Judge DAILEY . 1 Petitioners, the State of Colorado ex rel. John Suthers, Attorney General for the State of Colorado, and Laura E. Udis, Administrator of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code (collectively, the State), appeal the district court's order dismissing, on subject matter jurisdiction grounds, proceedings brought against respondents, Tulips Investments, LLC, a Delaware corporation, and its president, J. David Blevins (collectively, Tulips), to enforce an administrative...
Opinion by Judge NEY. * 1 In this post-dissolution of marriage proceeding, James H. Nelson (husband) appeals from the district court's order extending the duration of maintenance payable to Gricela G. Nelson (wife). We dismiss the appeal in part and affirm. I. Background 2 Commencing in November 2004, husband was ordered to pay wife $1932 in monthly maintenance for five years. A few days after the five years expired, wife moved to modify maintenance, citing an inability to continue to...
Opinion by Judge TAUBMAN. 1 Defendant, Michael S. Van De Weghe, appeals the trial court's judgment of conviction entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of attempt to influence a public figure. We conclude that the criminal impersonation statute does not supplant the attempt to influence a public servant statute and, therefore, we affirm. I. Background 2 Van De Weghe is a retired Denver police officer. He resigned from the police force in 1989. Despite having not worked as a...
Opinion by Judge WEBB . 1 In a protracted probate proceeding during which the value of the estate significantly increases, does the probate court's equitable power include making a compensatory increase to the surviving spouse's elective share Addressing a question of first impression in Colorado, we conclude that the probate court erred in making such an equitable adjustment, which is the primary issue in this appeal. We also remand for further proceedings on the corporate governance (...
Opinion by Judge TAUBMAN. 1 Defendant, American Standard Insurance Company of Wisconsin (American Standard), appeals from a monetary judgment entered against it in favor of plaintiff, Rose Marie Hall. This court issued show cause orders concerning two separate finality issues relating to that monetary judgment. Upon consideration of the parties' responses to these show cause orders, we dismiss the appeal without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction because no final, appealable judgment has...
Opinion by Judge CASEBOLT. 1 In this personal injury action, plaintiff, Melanna Marcellot, appeals the judgment of dismissal in favor of defendant, Exempla Inc., doing business as Exempla West Pines, a mental health hospital. She contends that the trial court erred in granting Exempla's C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) dismissal motion because section 13-21-117, C.R.S.2012, which provides immunity to mental health care providers, does not apply to this action. We disagree and therefore affirm. I....
Opinion by Judge J. JONES. 1 Defendant, Quinton Van Gundy (trustee), appeals a portion of the judgment entered after a bench trial in favor of plaintiff, Eldon Van Gundy (beneficiary), on beneficiary's breach of contract claim, as well as the court's award of attorney fees to beneficiary. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand the case with directions. I. Background 2 In 2004, beneficiary created an irrevocable trust to be managed by trustee, his son, funding it with real estate...
Opinion by Judge TAUBMAN. 1 In this action concerning whether a county may prohibit the operation of a medical marijuana dispensary 1 as a non-permitted use under a local zoning plan, plaintiffs, Marc A. Giuliani and Footprints Health and Wellness, Inc. (collectively Providers), and Christopher Peck and Frank Campbell (collectively Patients), appeal the trial court's orders partially dismissing their claims and affirming the resolution of the Jefferson County Board of Adjustment (the Board)....
Opinion by JUDGE FURMAN. 1 Plaintiff, Jillian Groh, was evicted from the Westin Hotel in downtown Denver, owned and operated by defendant, Westin Operator, LLC (Westin). Tragically, she was later injured in an accident while riding as a passenger in a car driven by an intoxicated driver. She now claims that the Westin was negligent in not preventing her from riding in that car. 2 We conclude the Westin did not owe a duty of care to Groh because (1) after she and her companions were...
Opinion by Judge RUSSEL. 1 Zurich American Insurance Company appeals from the trial court's final judgment in favor of Michael Graham. We affirm and remand for a decision about attorney fees. I. Background 2 Graham worked as a regional sales manager for Zurich. After being terminated from his job, he brought an action to recover certain bonuses that, in his view, constituted unpaid wages under the Colorado Wage Claim Act. See 8-4-101 to -123, C.R.S. 2012. 3 The jury found in...
