Frank L. Hays

The case involved former partners in the Burlington Livestock Sales Company who entered into a contract for the sale of the defendant's interest in the business, which included a covenant not to compete in a livestock pavilion business within 50 miles of Burlington, Colorado, for 50 years. After the defendant allegedly breached the covenant by operating a similar business in nearby Stratton, Colorado, the plaintiffs sought a temporary injunction pending resolution of their claims for injunctive relief and damages. The trial court denied the temporary injunction due to the lack of proof of actual injury to the plaintiffs. On appeal, the court reversed, ruling that where a valid non-compete covenant accompanies the sale of an established business and its goodwill, a breach is presumed to cause irreparable damage making legal remedies inadequate, so injunctive relief is appropriate without requiring the plaintiffs to first prove specific pecuniary harm.

business & regulatory

This case involved a guest passenger suing the driver and owner of a car for injuries from an accident that occurred when the vehicle skidded off the road while traveling at high speed toward a dead-end turn on Christmas Eve 1946. The trial court dismissed the suit as a matter of law, finding the defendants had acted with willful and wanton negligence but that the plaintiff was contributorily negligent for failing to protest the speed or warn of the upcoming turn. The Colorado Supreme Court reversed the dismissal, ruling that the state's guest statute limits liability to willful and wanton disregard of the passenger's rights and that contributory negligence is not available as a defense under that standard. The court held that whether the driver's conduct met the willful-and-wanton threshold was a factual question that must be submitted to a jury under proper instructions.

torts & liability

This case is a workers' compensation proceeding under the Workmen’s Compensation Act in which claimant Mike Fontana sought benefits after falling from a building under construction on the property of Neely-Towner Motor Company in 1950. The Industrial Commission awarded compensation, which the trial court sustained, and the company sought review arguing that Fontana was an independent contractor rather than an employee or, alternatively, a casual employee exempt from coverage. The court examined evidence that the company hired Fontana on an hourly basis, supplied all materials, retained control over the work including deviations from plans, and paid a helper, and it concluded based on statutory language and prior precedents that he was an employee engaged in the usual course of the employer's business. The judgment affirming the award was therefore upheld.

labor & employment

The case concerned John J. Berger, Jr., who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death; after his conviction was affirmed, his attorney filed a motion in the trial court asserting that Berger had become insane while awaiting execution and seeking a judicial determination of his sanity, either by the court or a commission, along with a stay of execution under Colorado statutes. The trial court appointed two psychiatrists who examined Berger and reported him to be sane; after reviewing their reports and consulting the prison warden, the court found Berger sane and accountable to the law. Berger then petitioned the Colorado Supreme Court for original jurisdiction to require a jury trial on the sanity issue. The court held that the statutory procedure did not mandate a jury trial for post-conviction, post-sentence claims of insanity and that the trial court's determination based on the expert reports was adequate.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved original disbarment proceedings in the Colorado Supreme Court against attorney E. Clifford Heald, who had been convicted in federal court on charges of making false statements to a governmental lending agency and conspiracy related to a real estate transaction involving a veteran's GI loan. The matter was referred to a referee, who found after review that Heald had been fairly tried and convicted on sufficient evidence and that the offenses involved moral turpitude. The court examined the underlying facts, including the use of dual contracts showing different sale prices and misrepresentations to the loan association, and determined these established moral turpitude. The court adopted the referee's findings and suspended Heald from practicing law in Colorado for six months.

criminal lawprocedure

This case concerned the collection of income tax deficiencies assessed by the Colorado director of revenue against the estate of Minnie K. Liebhardt for 1945 and 1946. After serving notices of deficiency and a final determination on the estate administrator, the director issued a distraint warrant that was filed as a court judgment when the administrator failed to request a hearing, post bond, or appeal within the statutory timelines. The administrator later moved to set aside the judgment on technical grounds, but the trial court denied the motion. The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed, reasoning that the taxpayer had not exhausted the plain statutory remedies, rendering the tax final and unreviewable, and that the collection method satisfied due process requirements.

taxesprocedure