Free Motion for Miscellaneous Relief - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:01-cv-02199-MSK-MEH

Document 410

Filed 04/27/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Case No. 01-cv-02199-MSK-MEH MICHAEL E. CLAWSON and JARED L. DILLON, Plaintiffs, v. MOUNTAIN COAL COMPANY, L.L.C., ARCH WESTERN RESOURCES, L.L.C., and ARCH COAL, INC., Defendants.

MOTION FOR PERMISSION TO SPEAK TO FORMER JURORS

The plaintiffs, Michael E. Clawson and Jared L. Dillon, through their undersigned counsel, Killian, Guthro & Jensen, P.C., hereby submit their Motion for Permission to Speak to Former Jurors, and in support thereof, state as follows: Compliance with D.C.COLO.CivR 7.1 On April 27, 2006, plaintiffs' counsel, Keith Killian, spoke to defendants' counsel, Jeff Johnson, regarding this motion. The defendants take no position on this motion. 1. At the end of the trial, the court informed the jurors that they may now speak to

others about the case and their deliberations, with the caveat that they should be aware of the other jurors' privacy concerns. This would appear to give oral permission for the jurors to speak to the attorneys or vice versa. Plaintiffs' counsel would like to speak to the jurors to learn what they thought of the case presentation and what facts and issues were important to them so as to

Case 1:01-cv-02199-MSK-MEH

Document 410

Filed 04/27/2006

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improve case presentation in the future. This would seem to be permitted by the court's oral statement to the jury. 2. D.C.COLO.LCiv.R 47.1 provides: "No party or attorney shall communicate with,

or cause another to communicate with, a juror or prospective juror before, during, or after any trial without written authority signed by the judicial officer to whom the case is assigned for trial." (emphasis added). Pursuant to this rule, counsel need written and signed permission to speak to jurors. This would appear to be true even if the jurors contacted counsel and wished to discuss the case. 3. It is not counsel's intention to harass or badger the jurors, nor to question their

judgment. Plaintiffs' counsel simply wishes to learn from the jurors and their experience. Most likely a paralegal would contact the jurors and ask if they would be willing to speak about their experience as jurors. If the juror says "no," that would be the end of the inquiry. If the juror says yes, the paralegal would ask series of questions. WHEREFORE, plaintiffs respectfully request that the court enter an order allowing the parties and their counsel to contact the jurors who served on the jury for the trial of April 10, 2006, through April 21, 2006. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this 27th day of April, 2006.

s/J. Keith Killian J. Keith Killian Damon Davis Killian, Guthro & Jensen, P.C. 225 N. 5th Street Grand Junction, CO 81501 Telephone: (970) 241-0707 2

Case 1:01-cv-02199-MSK-MEH

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FAX: (970) 242-8375 E-mail: [email protected] Attorney for Plaintiffs Michael E. Clawson and Jared L. Dillon

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Case 1:01-cv-02199-MSK-MEH

Document 410

Filed 04/27/2006

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRIT OF COLORADO CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE (CM/ECF) I hereby certify that on April 27, 2006, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send notification of such filing to the following e-mail addresses: [email protected] [email protected] and, I hereby certify that I have mailed or served the document or paper to the following non CM/ECF participants in the manner (mail, hand-delivery, etc.) indicated by the non-participant's name: Mr. Michael Clawson 38506 Back River Road Paonia, CO 81428 Mr. Jared Dillon 35404 Back River Road Hotchkiss, CO 81419 Mail

Mail

s/J. Keith Killian J. Keith Killian Attorney for Plaintiffs Killian, Guthro & Jensen, P.C. 225 N. 5th Street Grand Junction, CO 81501 Telephone: (970) 241-0707 Fax: (970) 242-8375 [email protected]

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