Opinion
Civil Case No. 11-cv-00490-REB-BNB.
August 16, 2011
ORDER
This matter arises on Plaintiff's Motion for Order That All Evidence Be Preserved [Doc. # 204, filed 8/12/2011] (the "Motion"), which is DENIED.
The plaintiff requests an order
that all evidence of whatever nature relating to the January 3, 2007 shooting of Plaintiff Darrell Havens, including but not limited to: 1) the evidence obtained from the January 3, 2007 shooting incident scene; 2) the evidence obtained from the subsequent investigation of the shooting incident; 3) the evidence used in the criminal prosecution of Plaintiff Darrell Havens, and 4) the evidence relating to the revocation of Plaintiff's medical parole by the Colorado Parole Board, which was originally, and is presently, in the custody and under the control of Defendants named herein and/or other law enforcement/governmental agencies, be preserved through the duration of this civil action and through appeal, or for three years from the date the Order [sic], whichever period is longer.
Motion [Doc. #204] at p. 3.
The law imposes on putative and actual litigants a duty to preserve evidence that is relevant to imminent or ongoing litigation. Cache La Poudre Feed, LLC v. Land O' Lakes, Inc., 244 F.R.D. 614, 620 (D. Colo. 2007). To the extent the plaintiff seeks an order consistent with this requirement, it is unnecessary. Absent some basis to do so, which the Motion does not provide, I will not impose a duty to preserve beyond that which the law already requires.