Tag Archives: John Case

Friends of Denver Parks requests injunction from Colorado Court of Appeals

Dear Friends,

 On Friday October 4, Friends of Denver Parks filed a written motion asking the Colorado Court of Appeals to grant an injunction to prevent the destruction of Hampden Heights North Park while the Court of Appeals reviews the merits of the appeal.  A copy of the Motion for Injunction Pending Appeal is attached.

 The motion was accompanied by 18 media articles, many authored by recipients of this email, as Appendices to show the Court of Appeals the level of public interest in this issue. 

 On Thursday October 3 Friends filed its opening brief.  A copy of the brief is attached also.

 Based on the attached briefs, do you think that the plaintiffs have a good enough argument to convince the court of appeals to allow the people to vote on this issue?

 Thank you for your interest in this important public issue.  Please contact John Case at 303-667-7407 if you have questions.

 John Case

BENSON & CASE, LLP

Summary of the Court Proceedings

Good morning Friends of Denver Park,

Just a brief summary of the request for injunction proceedings 6/12-13/2013

If you want to decide a case based on the preponderance of evidence then I can say that John Case was a machine for two days.  I was wore out each day as the testimony was so engaging.  John just kept on and on, and didn’t let up.
The opportunity to see this experienced trial lawyer in action was an amazing privilege.

I did find Chuck Bonniwell’s testimony to be very valuable.  He will be publishing an article about the hearing in his newspaper,
the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle. We really needed to establish that this area was used for recreation prior to 1955, and
he put everything in perspective easily.  We knew that people rode horseback up and down the creek, and had some historical riding
stables to refer too.  But he simply stated that of course people used the corridor because in a short grass prairie land environment
unless it is an irrigated area the only place that was green and full of trees was Cherry Creek or the Platte River. He also established what government experts could not was the fact that even though the City and County of Denver bought up all the food plain lands along Cherry Creek post dam collapse in 1933 to have control of the flood plain areas.  Because it was the depression most lands were bought easily but not all sold the land, one in particular was the Cherry Creek Country Club
(he wrote a book on the history of the club).  So Denver City and County had to buy “right of way easements”, so that people
could use the paths recreationally unimpeded.

In the meantime, some of our not so stellar city officials had some prize moments.  Yes, Happy Haynes was overheard stating loudly “that son of a bitch” and stomped back into the courtroom while shaking her finger at John Case stating “how dare you “  she said more but I’m not sure exactly the words, but it was in reference to the question that John had
asked about her sister getting a position on DP&R after her deciding DPS vote.   She had the hardest time recalling this information on the stand.

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New Announcement June 7 2013

On Wednesday, June 12, 2013 Denver District Judge Herbert L. Stern III will decide whether to grant a preliminary injunction preventing Mayor Hancock and city council from trading  10.7 acres of Hampden Heights North Park in southeast Denver for an office building downtown.  Friends of Denver Parks, a non-profit corporation whose mission is to protect and preserve Denver parks, natural areas, and open space, joined two individual homeowners and filed suit on May 30 to block the trade.

 Denver attorney John Case, who is representing the plaintiffs pro-bono, said that he is excited to have an early hearing date.   “Denver city charter section 2.4.5 says that city officials cannot transfer any part of a park without a vote of the people,” Case said.  “We are asking the Court to let the people decide.  We believe that citizens want Denver to be a beautiful outdoor environment where parents can teach their children to enjoy wildlife in the city, and people throughout the city can walk and bicycle through natural areas.”

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