Opinion
Criminal Case No. 10-cr-00317-REB-02
05-08-2012
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. 2. RICHARD KELLOGG ARMSTRONG, Defendant.
Judge Robert E. Blackburn
AMENDED ORDER STRIKING DEFENDANT'S NOTICES
This amended order is necessary to correctly identify the docket number of the fourth spurious notice as [#527], not [#526] as stated in the original order [#537].
Blackburn, J.
The matter is before me on the following: (1) NOTICE Notice of Fault - Opportunity To Cure "Final Expression in a Record" [#524] filed May 4, 2012; (2) NOTICE (2nd) Notice of Fault - Opportunity To Cure "Final Expression in a Record" [#525] filed May 4, 2012; (3) NOTICE Notice of Default in Dishonor Consent to Judgment [#526] filed May 4, 2012; and (4) NOTICE Notice of Default in Dishonor Consent to Judgment [#527] filed May 4, 2012. All four of these unauthorized notices were filed by defendant, Richard Kellogg Armstrong. I strike all four notices.
As I have done assiduously during the time that Mr. Armstrong has represented himself, I construe his papers liberally. See Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 127 S. Ct. 2197, 2200, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007); Andrews v. Heaton, 483 F.3d 1070, 1076 (10th Cir. 2007); Hall v. Belmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991) (citing Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21 (1972)). However, I have not acted as an advocate for Mr. Armstrong.
To rehearse, at least as early as the proceedings on April 7, 2011, I admonished and instructed Mr. Armstrong, to cease and desist from filing notices in lieu of motions. Soon thereafter I expanded the injunction to enjoin Mr. Armstrong from filing any pretrial motion or other paper without advance leave of the court. I reiterated and asseverated these requirements in a series of orders, the most recent of which was entered April 23, 2012. See Order [#494] at 3, ¶ 6.a. and b. Notwithstanding, Mr. Armstrong filed the four "notices" described above.
Whether considered individually or collectively, none of these notices are required by law or by order of the court; none is necessary to preserve the constitutional or legal rights of Mr. Armstrong in this criminal case; and none may be construed as a response to the recently filed second, third, fourth, or fifth orders to show cause. Thus, these notices will be stricken as violative of my continuing oral and written orders.
Additionally, I will issue a separate, fifth order to show cause, requiring Mr. Armstrong to show cause in writing by a date certain why he should not be found guilty of contempt of court and punished accordingly. Finally, as I have so often now, I will reiterate and asseverate my orders that Mr. Armstrong cease and desist from filing notices in lieu of motions and that he not file any additional pretrial motions or papers without advance leave of this court.
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED as follows:
1. That the NOTICE Notice of Fault - Opportunity To Cure "Final Expression in a Record" [#524] filed May 4, 2012,is STRICKEN;
2. That the NOTICE (2nd) Notice of Fault - Opportunity To Cure "Final Expression in a Record" [#525] filed May 4, 2012, is STRICKEN;
3. That the NOTICE Notice of Default in Dishonor Consent to Judgment [#526] filed May 4, 2012, is STRICKEN; and
4. that the NOTICE Notice of Default in Dishonor Consent to Judgment [#527] filed May 4, 2012, is STRICKEN;
5. That once again the defendant, Richard Kellogg Armstrong, subject to the penalties for contempt of court:
I rehearsed those penalties for Mr. Armstrong in the Order To Show Cause [#378] entered December 16, 2011, and during the contempt advisement proceedings I conducted on January 24, 2012. See Courtroom Minutes [#404] at 4.
a. shall not file any paper as a "notice" (as opposed to and distinguished from a "motion") without advance leave of the court; and
b. shall not file any pretrial motion, notice, or other paper without advance leave of the court; and
Once again, this order does not prohibit or enjoin Mr. Armstrong from filing a proper motion seeking leave of the court to file a motion or other paper in this case.
--------
6. That this amended order SUPPLANTS and SUPERSEDES the Order Striking Defendant's Notices [#537] filed May 8, 2012.
Dated May 8, 2012, at Denver, Colorado.
BY THE COURT:
______________________
Robert E. Blackburn
United States District Judge