Chapter 6 - § 6.7 JUDICIAL NOTICE

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 6.7 JUDICIAL NOTICE

Colorado

➢ General

(a) Scope of rule. This rule governs only judicial notice of adjudicative facts.

(b) Kinds of facts. A judicially noticed fact must be one not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is either (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.

(c) When discretionary. A court may take judicial notice, whether requested or not.

(d) When mandatory. A court shall take judicial notice if requested by a party and supplied with the necessary information.

(e) Opportunity to be heard. A party is entitled upon timely request to an opportunity to be heard as to the propriety of taking judicial notice and the tenor of the matter noticed. In the absence of prior notification, the request may be made after judicial notice has been taken.

(f) Time of taking notice. Judicial notice may be taken at any stage of the proceeding.

(g) Instructing jury. In a civil action or proceeding, the court shall instruct the jury to accept as conclusive any fact judicially noticed. In a criminal case, the court shall instruct the jury that it may, but is not required to, accept as conclusive any fact judicially noticed.

CRE 201.

➢ Purpose; Common Knowledge. "Traditionally, the rule has been used cautiously because its purpose is to bypass the usual factfinding process." Quintana v. City of Westminster, 56 P.3d 1193, 1199 (Colo. App. 2002); Prestige Homes, Inc. v. Legouffe, 658 P.2d 850, 853 (Colo. 1983).

➢ "Common Knowledge." Judicial notice should be taken only of "adjudicative" or "irrefutable" facts, when the facts are of such common knowledge that they cannot reasonably be disputed. Prestige Homes, Inc. v. Legouffe, 658 P.2d 850, 853 (Colo. 1983); Conrad v. City & County of Denver, 656 P.2d 662, 677 (Colo. 1982); Quintana, 56 P.3d at 1199.

➢ "Common Knowledge" of "Interested Public." Facts that are judicially noticed need not be "commonly known" by the court or by the general public, but only by the "interested public." Four-County Metro. Capital Improvement Dist. v. Board of Comm'rs, 369 P.2d 67, 73 (Colo. 1962); One Hour Cleaners v. ICAO, 914 P.2d 501, 504 (Colo. App. 1995).

➢ Procedure; Required Versus Discretionary Notice. For a court to be required to take judicial notice upon the request of a party, it must be supplied with the specific information that is the subject of the request. Otherwise, it is discretionary whether a court takes judicial notice. CRE 201(c) and (d); Martinez v. RTD, 832 P.2d 1060, 1061 (Colo. App. 1992); Durbin v. Bonanza Corp., 716 P.2d 1124, 1129 (Colo. App. 1986).

➢ General; Opportunity to be Heard. CRE 201 grants a party the opportunity to be heard concerning the propriety of the court taking judicial notice and the tenor of the matter noticed. CRE 201(e).

➢ Timing. Judicial notice may be taken at any stage of a proceeding, whether in the trial court or on appeal. CRE 201(f); Prestige Homes, 658 P.2d at 853; Lovato v. Johnson, 617 P.2d 1203, 1204 (Colo. 1980).

➢ Judicial Notice Permissible; Court Records. A trial court may take judicial notice of its own records and adopt the factual findings of a previous case as long as the previous case involved the same parties and issues. Municipal Subdist., N. Colo. Water Conservancy Dist. v. OXY USA, Inc., 990 P.2d 701, 711 (Colo. 1999); Dauwe v. Musante, 122 P.3d 15, 20 (Colo. App. 2004). A trial court may also take judicial notice of the

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