Felts vs. USA

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell
Civil Action No. 24–cv–02279–GPG–MDB
RONALD L. FELTS,
Plaintiff,
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Defendant.
MINUTE ORDER
This matter is before the Court on Defendant’s Motion for Identification of Consulted
Professionals and Court Verification of Certificates of Review. (Doc. No. 23.) For the following
reasons, the Motion is GRANTED.
Per Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-602(3)(b), courts have discretion to “require the identity of
the...licensed professional who was consulted,” and “verify the content of such certificate of
review.” See also Redden v. SCI Colorado Funeral Services, Inc., 38 P.3d 75, 83 (Colo. 2001)
(“While we observe that initially the statute requires [a party] only to ‘declare’ that an expert has
determined a negligence claim has merit, once a court seeks verification, it is incumbent upon
[the party] to substantiate the certificate by demonstrating that a duly qualified expert does not
consider the claim to be without 'substantial justification.’”).
Upon review of the briefing and consideration of the facts and law, the Court finds good
cause to require the disclosure of Plaintiff’s experts. Because Plaintiff raised the matter, and
because it can be a threshold issue in early dispositive motions, addressing it now will be most
efficient. To the extent Plaintiff believes a certificate of review is not required in the first place,
he can make the argument at a later date, in response to a motion to dismiss, for example.
Case No. 1:24-cv-02279-GPG-MDB Document 41 filed 03/11/25 USDC Colorado
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Specifically, the Court ORDERS that on or before April 21, 2025, Plaintiff shall provide
to the Court the name and contact information for the experts he references in ECF [17] and on
or before that date Plaintiff shall also submit affidavits signed by the experts, in which each
expert affirms that he or she: 1) has reviewed Plaintiff’s claims in this case, 2) has expertise that
is directly relevant to the alleged negligent conduct in this case, 3) has been consulted about this
case and has reviewed the known facts, records, documents, and other relevant materials, and 4)
has concluded that Plaintiff’s professional negligence claims are not substantially frivolous,
substantially groundless, or substantially vexatious. See Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-602(3)(a); § 13-
17-102(4).
Plaintiff may either publicly file the documents in question through standard filing
procedures, or if he does not wish to disclose this information to Defendant, Plaintiff may mail
this information directly to Chambers for in-camera review. The mailing address is Colorado
Springs Courthouse, 212 N. Wahsatch Ave., Suite 100, Colorado Springs, CO 80903. Plaintiff
can also email the documents to Chambers at Braswell_Chambers@cod.uscourts.gov, if email is
available to him.
Additionally, it is ORDERED that Defendant’s deadline to answer or otherwise respond
to the Complaint is vacated at this time and will be reset at a later date.
The Clerk of Court is directed to mail a copy of this Minute Order to Plaintiff:
Ronald L. Felts
#36428-013
ENGLEWOOD
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
Inmate Mail/Parcels
9595 WEST QUINCY AVENUE
LITTLETON, CO 80123
Dated this 11th day of March, 2025.
BY THE COURT:
___________________________
Maritza Dominguez Braswell
United States Magistrate Judge
Case No. 1:24-cv-02279-GPG-MDB Document 41 filed 03/11/25 USDC Colorado
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