Opinion
Criminal Case No. 10-cr-00317-REB-02
04-23-2012
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. 2. RICHARD KELLOGG ARMSTRONG, Defendant.
Judge Robert E. Blackburn
ORDER STRIKING DEFENDANT'S NOTICES
Blackburn, J.
The matter is before me on the following: (1) NOTICE Notice of Tender for Setoff And Request Regarding a Statement of Account [#481] filed April 16, 2012; (2) NOTICE Notice of Fault - Opportunity To Cure "Final Expression in a Record" [#490] filed April 23, 2012; (3) NOTICE Notice of Fault - Opportunity To Cure "Final Expression in a Record" [#491] filed April 23, 2012; (4) NOTICE Constructive Notice of Conditional Acceptance [#492] filed April 23, 2012; and (5) NOTICE Constructive Notice of Conditional Acceptance [#493] filed April 23, 2012. All five of these unauthorized notices were filed by defendant, Richard Kellogg Armstrong. I strike the 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.
At the risk of perseveration, 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. I reiterated and asseverated this requirement in a series of orders, the most recent of which was entered April 6, 2012. See Order [#467] at 3, ¶ 5.a. and b. Notwithstanding, Mr. Armstrong filed the five "notices" described above. Thus, his notices will be stricken as violative of my oral and written orders.
Additionally, I will issue a separate, fourth 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, 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.
I entered the first Order To Show Cause [#378] on December 16, 2011, and have not yet had the time to enter either the second order to show cause that I promised in my order [#463] entered April 5, 2012, or the third order to show cause that I promised in my order [#467] entered April 6, 2012.
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED as follows:
1. That the NOTICE Notice of Tender for Setoff And Request Regarding a Statement of Account [#481] filed April 16, 2012, is STRICKEN;
2. That the NOTICE Notice of Fault - Opportunity To Cure "Final Expression in a Record" [#490] filed April 23, 2012, is STRICKEN;
3. That the NOTICE Notice of Fault - Opportunity To Cure "Final Expression in a Record" [#491] filed April 23, 2012, is STRICKEN;
4. That the NOTICE Constructive Notice of Conditional Acceptance [#492] filed April 23, 2012, is STRICKEN;
5. That the NOTICE Constructive Notice of Conditional Acceptance [#493] filed April 23, 2012, is STRICKEN; and
6. 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 or other paper without advance leave of the court.
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.
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Dated April 23, 2012, at Denver, Colorado.
BY THE COURT:
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Robert E. Blackburn
United States District Judge