War of Words Heats up in South Boulder Land Grab Case
War of words heats up in south Boulder ‘land grab’ case
Attorney: McClean, Stevens case shouldn't be sent back
By Heath Urie
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Ongoing Coverage
Stay up-to-date in our Ongoing Coverage Section for the Adverse Possession Case
VIDEO: Nov. 18 protest picnic in support of the Kirlins. WATCH »
VIDEO: Take a look at Don and Susie Kirlin's land and hear them speak about the case. WATCH »
MAP: Satellite image Google map of Hardscrabble Drive.
AUDIO: Listen to NPR's report on the case.
AUDIO: Local singer Don Wrege composed several songs about the land dispute.
- 1. Stealing Land From Our Neighbor
- 2. This Land Belongs to Don & Susie
- 3. Edie & Dick (The Grinch Theme)
Email Updates
Get e-mail updates as the story updates. Email automatically checks every 4 hours for new articles.
Documents:
PDF: Read the court order.
PDF: Read the letter to Susie Kirlin from the Colorado Supreme Court’s Attorney Regulation Counsel rejecting her legal ethics claim
PDF: Read a letter sent from Richard McLean and Edith Stevens to their friends and supporters, in which they explain their actions.
PDF: Read a column by Boulder County Bar Association president Sonny Flowers that defends Boulder District Court Judge James C. Klein.
PDF: Read the police report about the suspicious package
more documents ...
A war of words continues in a high-profile Boulder land case, with each side accusing the other of lying.
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In January, Don and Susie Kirlin appealed an October ruling by Boulder County District Court Judge James C. Klein that awarded a third of their million-dollar lot to neighbors Richard McLean and Edith Stevens, based on the squatter's-rights law of "adverse possession."
The Kirlins at the same time filed a request with the Colorado Court of Appeals to send the case back to the district court level to hear additional evidence, alleging their neighbors fabricated evidence to win their case.
After the Kirlins wrote in the request that McLean and Stevens "willfully fabricated evidence," lied in their testimony and that new aerial photos of the property back up the claims, a recent response filed with the appellate court by McLean and Stevens' attorney fires back.
"(Don) Kirlin seeks to retry this case with evidence he now describes as 'newly discovered,' all of which was available to him prior to trial," Kim Hult wrote. "Kirlin does not allege or argue ... that this evidence could not have been discovered before with the exercise of reasonable diligence."
According to Hult, the case should not be sent back to Klein for review, a new trial or a reversal of his decision because the Kirlins are making false allegations.
"Kirlin simply seeks to make yet again, in a very public way, sensational false charges that have already been rejected by the district court," Hult wrote in her reply. "A remand is not warranted, and Kirlin's motion should be denied."
Hult goes on to argue that any photos of the disputed land or testimony from nearby residents and other witnesses could have been, and in some cases already were, introduced in the original trial last fall.
She wrote that the motion to send the case back to the lower court "undercuts the principle of finality long recognized by Colorado courts" and that the couple should not "be allowed a second bite of the apple."
Hult also accused Don Kirlin in the filing of resorting to "name calling" and making "baseless charges in the media."
A response filed Friday by the Kirlins' attorney, Andy Low, continues to assert that McLean and Stevens fabricated evidence of a longtime path on the Kirlins' lot -- which Low said is more than grounds for sending the case back to Boulder.
"Without the path, therefore, plaintiffs had no realistic chance of gaining most of the land at issue," Low wrote. "Although the Kirlins caught plaintiffs red-handed, the court seemed reluctant to believe that persons as prominent as the plaintiffs would have tampered with evidence."
McLean is a former district court judge and Boulder mayor, and Stevens is an attorney.
Low said that if tampering with evidence isn't enough to justify sending the case back to Klein, "It is difficult to imagine what would."
The court of appeals will likely decide whether to remand the case to the trial court within a few weeks.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie at 303-473-1328 or .