Free Motion to Continue - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:00-cv-02359-WDM-OES

Document 19

Filed 12/19/2005

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil Action No. 00-cv-02359-WDM-OES (and related case nos. 00-cv-2355, 00-cv-02356,

00-cv-02357, 00-cv-02376, 00-cv-02377, 00-cv-02378, 00-cv-02379, 00-cv-02381, 00-cv-02382, 00-cv-02387, 00-cv-02388, 00-cv-02389, 00-cv-02390, 00-cv-02392, 00-cv-02393, 00-cv-02395, 00-cv-02396, 00-cv-02397, 00-cv-02398, 00-cv-02399, 00-cv-02400, 00-cv-02401, 00-cv-02402, 00-cv-02403, and 00-cv-02405)

COLIN CHAPMAN, et al. Plaintiffs, v. JOHN M. WELCH, et al., Defendants.

JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE CLOSURES

Plaintiffs and the Defendant, the United States of America, through their respective counsel, hereby jointly request that an Order issue continuing the administrative closures in the twenty-six (26) related actions referenced above, up to and including December 29, 2006, on the following grounds:

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1.

These 26 cases are some of the 51 related quiet title actions that were

individually filed on or about November 30, 2000. Of the 51 related cases, 43 were administratively closed (including the 26 cases here) due to the burden of litigating 51 cases, and on the presumption that litigating eight representative cases instead could obviate the need for litigating the other 43 cases. 2. Although the 51 original cases were not formally consolidated, pursuant to

the Court's order and for purposes of efficiency, pleadings that applied to the related cases were filed under Case No. 00-cv-2358-WDM-OES, Colin Chapman v. Ashel A. Denman, et al., with a notation (and related cases . . ..). That caption was not used for this motion as that case was transferred to Magistrate Judge Watanabe, the case number was changed to Case No. 00-cv-2358-MJW-OES, judgment entered in favor of the United States on July 2, 2004, and the case is currently on appeal to the Tenth Circuit, Appeal No. 04-1331. Therefore, the caption for one of the cases that is the subject of this motion was used. 3. The 26 cases subject to the instant motion are currently subject to orders of

administrative closure that will expire on December 31, 2005. See Orders for Administrative Closure dated 26 March 2002, 27 August 2003, 14 July 2004, and 27 July 2005.

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4.

The status of the 51 cases is as follows: 26 are the subject of this motion, 15

are settled in principle (Plaintiff in those cases is represented by other counsel); 5 are on appeal with the Tenth Circuit; and 5 have been settled and/or dismissed. 5. Based on the best currently available information, oral argument and

decisions in the five cases on appeal to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals are not expected before the late fall of 2006. 6. Therefore, the Parties believe that good cause exists and it is in the best

interest of the Parties and the Court to continue the effective date of the administrative closure of the 26 above-captioned cases until December 29, 2006. 7. The Parties agree that the administrative closure of these cases does not

foreclose further litigation of these cases, and that any or all of the administratively closed cases may be reopened upon motion by either party. 8. For the Court's convenience, a list of the 26 cases proposed to be subject to

the continued administrative closure, identifying Plaintiff, mining claim name and number, and case number; and, a list of the five cases currently in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, identified by the Plaintiff, lower court case number and appellate court case number is attached as Exhibit 1.

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WHEREFORE, the Parties respectfully request that the Court grant their Joint Motion to Continue Administrative Closure through December 29, 2006 for the twentysix related cases referenced above. WILLIAM J. LEONE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

s/Roxane J. Perruso Roxane J. Perruso Assistant United States Attorney U.S. Attorney's Office, Civil Division 1225 17th Street, Suite 700 Denver, Colorado 80202 Telephone: (303) 454-0100

s/Gary A. Wright Gary A. Wright 715 West Main Street, Suite 201 Aspen, Colorado 81611 Telephone: (970) 925-5625

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on this day of December, 2005, I electronically filed the foregoing JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE CLOSURES with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to the following e-mail addresses: Peter R. Bornstein [email protected] [email protected] Michael E. Hegarty [email protected] [email protected] Gary A. Wright [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 above the nonparticipant's name:

Roxane J. Perruso [email protected]

(E-Mail)

s/Gary A. Wright Gary A. Wright 715 West Main Street, Suite 201 Aspen, Colorado 81611 Telephone: (970) 925-5625

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