HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019CV30889 - Adam Wiemold V. City Of Fort Collins - 013 - Order Granting MotionPage1 of1
DISTRICT COURT, LARIMER (FT COLLINS) COUNTY, COLORADO
Court Address:
201 Laporte Avenue, Suite 100, Fort Collins, CO, 80521
Plaintiff(s) PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO
v.
Defendant(s) ADAM WIEMOLD
COURT USE ONLY
Case Number: 2019CV30889
Division: 5A Courtroom:
Order: Unopposed Motion for 30-Day Extension of Time to File Opening Brief
The motion/proposed order attached hereto: GRANTED.
The Opening Brief will be due on or before March 30, 2020.
Issue Date: 2/21/2020
JULIE KUNCE FIELD
District Court Judge
DATE FILED: February 21, 2020 2:30 PM
CASE NUMBER: 2019CV30889
1
LARIMER COUNTY DISTRICT COURT
201 LAPORTE AVENUE, SUITE 100
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO 80521
COURT USE ONLY
Appeal from the Fort Collins Municipal Court
The Honorable Judge Kathleen M. Lane
Case No. 2018-0240752-MD
Defendant-Appellant:
ADAM WIEMOLD
v.
Plaintiff-Appellee:
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO
Adam Frank
FRANK AND SALAHUDDIN LLC
1741 High Street, Denver, CO 80218
adam@fas-law.com
Phone: 303-974-1084
Fax: 303-974-1085
Attorney Registration Number: 38979
In cooperation with the ACLU of Colorado
Case Number: 2019CV30889
UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR 30-DAY EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE OPENING
BRIEF
Mr. Wiemold, through counsel, requests that this Court grant him a 30-day extension of time
to file his opening brief. Mr. Wiemold has conferred with counsel for the City of Fort Collins
concerning this request, and the City does not object to the requested relief. As grounds, he states
the following:
1. In this appeal from a municipal court criminal case, Mr. Wiemold timely filed his notice of
appeal on October 2, 2019. Pursuant to Rule 37(c), the clerk of the municipal court was
required to prepare the transcripts of the relevant recorded hearings within 42 days of
receiving the notice of appeal. This set the deadline as November 13, 2019.
2. However, as this Court knows, due to issues with the court reporter the municipal court
hired to complete the transcripts, the transcripts were not prepared by that date. Instead, the
transcripts were not completed until January 14, 2020.
3. After receiving the transcripts, Mr. Wiemold had 14 days to make objections to the
transcription. Unfortunately, there were multiple locations in the transcript where a
transcription error not only existed but also where the error changed the meaning of what
Attachment to Order - 2019CV30889
2
the speaker had been saying. Because of this, Mr. Wiemold had to file objections to the
record in the municipal court.
4. The municipal court ultimately corrected the transcript as Mr. Wiemold requested. However,
this process caused a delay in certifying the record to this Court. The record on appeal was
not certified to this Court until February 7, 2020. None of the delay between November 13,
2019 (when the record was initially due to be completed) and February 7, 2020 (when the
record was certified to this Court) can be attributed to any conduct by Mr. Wiemold.
5. Counsel notes this history because, had the record been certified in November as counsel
had expected, counsel had cleared space on counsel’s calendar to write the opening brief in
this appeal. Similarly, when counsel expected the record to be certified to this Court in
January, counsel had created space in counsel’s calendar to draft the opening brief. However,
with the certification of the record delayed until February 7 making the opening brief due
February 28, counsel has been unable to protect sufficient time in counsel’s calendar to
complete the opening brief by the current deadline.
6. Counsel’s calendar crunch comes from a very happy yet unchangeable source: counsel is set
to have a baby, currently due on March 10. Based on this due date and counsel’s need to
accomplish a number of tasks before going on leave, counsel’s calendar in the weeks leading
up to the birth has been hectic to say the least. The week of February 10, counsel wrote and
filed a 32-page opening brief in Stevinson v. Williams, 2019CA293. Counsel also had significant
time commitments that could not be moved, such as court dates, meetings with clients to
prepare for said court dates, and negotiations with district attorneys. Counsel also needed to
devote significant time that week to preparing for an all-day deposition counsel took on
Tuesday, February 18, in Montgomery, Alabama. To get to and from that deposition,
counsel was forced to be travelling on Monday, February 17 and Wednesday, February 19.
Upon returning to Colorado, counsel immediately had to prepare for a second deposition,
which took place today, February 20. Tomorrow, counsel must spend the day preparing for a
preliminary hearing in a COCCA and first degree assault case that is set to go to hearing on
Monday, February 24. Given the above time commitments, combined with four client
meetings currently set for February 25 so as to ensure clients are informed about their cases
before counsel goes on leave, counsel simply does not have enough time to write the
opening brief in this appeal before the February 28 deadline.
7. While appeals from municipal court cases are typically not exceptionally complex or difficult,
this case is a significant exception. The issues on appeal involve the constitutionality of Fort
Collins’s camping ban as applied to a man who was homeless and had nowhere else to sleep
but his car on the day he was convicted for camping in his car on public property. In the
municipal court, the parties filed a combined 100+ pages of motions, responses, replies, and
exhibits on these issues. Given this, the record in this case is extensive and the drafting of
the opening brief is a significant undertaking.
8. While ordinarily counsel would not need an extension as long as 30 days to complete the
opening brief, with counsel’s baby due on March 10 and potentially arriving any day now,
counsel anticipates a significant absence from work during which counsel will not be able to
complete the brief. Additionally, so long as counsel’s baby has not yet arrived, counsel has
Attachment to Order - 2019CV30889
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two additional depositions scheduled the week of March 2, each of which are set for a full
day and require significant preparation to take.
9. The City of Fort Collins does not object to Mr. Wiemold’s request.
Wherefore, Mr. Wiemold asks that this Court grant him a 30-day extension to file the opening brief
in this case. 30 days from the current due date would fall on a Sunday, so Mr. Wiemold requests an
extension up to and including March 30, 2020.
Dated: February 20, 2020
Adam Frank, #38979
FRANK & SALAHUDDIN LLC
In Cooperation with the ACLU of Colorado
Attachment to Order - 2019CV30889
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Certificate of Service
I hereby certify that on February 20, 2020, I served a true and correct copy of the foregoing
electronically via the CCE e-filing system upon the trial court, as well as the following individuals,
either directly through CCE or via email:
Jill Heuser
For Collins City Attorney
jhueser@fcgov.com
______________________
Adam Frank
FRANK AND SALAHUDDIN LLC
Attorney for Defendant-Appellant
Attachment to Order - 2019CV30889