Editor’s Note: Law Week Colorado edits court opinion summaries for style and, when necessary, length.
This case presented three important issues concerning defaulting defendants that prior Colorado decisions haven’t addressed, according to the opinion.
First, the Colorado Court of Appeals had to decide whether, in a civil case involving multiple parties arising from a single set of facts, a non-defaulting codefendant may call a defaulting codefendant to testify at trial, even though the defaulting codefendant’s liability to the plaintiff was established under Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 55(a).
The appeals court held that, under these circumstances, the non-defaulting codefendant has the right to call the defaulting codefendant to the witness stand because the default entered against the codefendant can’t restrict the non-defaulting codefendant’s right to defend itself against the plaintiff’s claims.
Second, the appeals court considered whether a court may set aside a default judgment entered against the defaulting codefendant when the jury’s answers on a special verdict form at the trial against the non-defaulting codefendant establish that such a defendant is not liable to the plaintiff and that the plaintiff incurred no damages as a result of the defaulting codefendant’s actions.
The appeals court held that a court doesn’t err by setting aside a default judgment that rests on facts directly contrary to the jury’s findings at the trial against the non-defaulting codefendant.
Third, the appeals court held that, under these facts, a court doesn’t err by subsequently entering judgment in favor of the defaulting codefendant rather than conducting a separate damages trial that creates the risk of logically inconsistent adjudications in the same case.
The appeals court affirmed.