Free Motion for Leave - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:01-cv-02018-RPM-MJW

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 01- CV- 2018- RPM- MJW
AP ARTMENT INVESTMENT AN corporation

MANAGEMENT COMPANY , a/kla AIMCO , a Maryland

Plaintiff,

NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURCE COMPANY OF PITTSBURGH , P A, a Pennsylvania corporation , et aI.
Defendants.

DEFENDANTS' JOINT MOTION FOR LEA VE TO DEPOSE MR. VITO B. GRUPPUSO
Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 16(e) and 34 , Defendants First Capital
Agency d/b/a First Capital Group (" First Capital" ), Roger Metzger Associates , Inc.

Metzger

National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh , P A ("National Union ), Security
Insurance Company of Hartford (" Security ), (collectively referred to as the " Parties ), by and
through their respective counsel , respectfully move the Court for leave to modify this Court'
October 25

2005 Final Pretrial Order to reopen discovery for the limited purpose of completing

the deposition ofMr. Vito B. Gruppuso , a critical witness in this case. In support of their
motion , Defendants state:

CERTIFICA TION
Pursuant to D. Colo. L.Rule 7. , Defendants have conferred with counsel for all other

parties in this litigation with respect to this motion. Third- Party Defendants Lockton Companies

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Inc. , Lockton Companies of Colorado , Inc. , Ray Baldwin , and Swain & Baldwin Insurance , Inc.

have no objection. No response was received from Plaintiff.
On October 25 2005 , this Court entered a Final Pretrial Order for this case.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(e) provides that a final pretrial order may be
modified to prevent manifest injustice.

See Bridge Pub!. Inc.

v.

F.A.

C.

TNet, Inc.

183 F . R.D.

254 258- 9 (D. Colo. 1998) (holding modifying proper where might otherwise result in injustice).

Defendant Mr. Vito B. Gruppuso was a principal actor in the conduct alleged in

Plaintiffs Complaint. He was the principal of Defendant National Program Services ("NPS"
another defendant in this case , until such time the state of New Jersey shut down NPS under

suspicion of bank fraud and theft of insurance premiums. (Exhibit 1 , Probable Cause Affdavit
in Support of Arrest Warrant.)

Federal and state criminal investigations ofMr. Gruppuso ensued , and Mr.
Gruppuso ultimately entered a guilty plea to certain charges in New Jersey state court , and in the

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. (Exhibit 2 , Transcript of Sentencing
Hearing, Criminal Docket No. 05- 394 , United States District Court , District of New Jersey.
Mr. Gruppuso was deposed in this case on September 20 2004.
At the time , Mr. Gruppuso had received his sentence for the New Jersey state

criminal charges to which he had pleaded guilty, but was still awaiting the entry of his guilty plea
to federal criminal charges and related sentencing.

During the deposition , under advice of counsel , Mr. Gruppuso asserted his Fifth
Amendment privilege against self- incrimination in response to every question involving the
transactions relating to this litigation.

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On May 19 2005 , Mr. Gruppuso entered his guilty plea and was finally sentenced

in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey for the federal criminal charges

to which he pleaded guilty. (Exhibit 2.
Mr. Gruppuso cannot be prosecuted for the same criminal acts twice in the same

jurisdiction , therefore , his testimony in this civil matter can no longer be protected by the Fifth
Amendment privilege of self incrimination. See United States v.

Pardo

636 F.2d 535

543 (D.

Cir. 1980;

McCarthy

v.

United States 394 U.S. 459 , 466 (1969).

10.

Mr. Gruppuso has unique knowledge of information that will aid the jury, and is

critical to the determination of fault and liability in this lawsuit. Justice cannot be served without

the testimony ofMr. Gruppuso.
11.

Because Mr. Gruppuso was only recently sentenced , and it is after the close of

fact discovery in this matter , it was not possible to complete his deposition until now.
12.
On March 1 ,
v.

2006 , Mr. Gruppuso was deposed in New Jersey in a related matter

Cananwil
3549-

, Inc.

Apartment Investment and Management Company, et ai. Docket No. MRS-

, Superior Court of New Jersey. During the March 2006 deposition, Mr. Gruppuso

answered all of the questions asked of him regarding the events at issue in this case.
13.

The Defendants hereby request leave of Court to reopen discovery for the limited

purpose of completing the deposition ofMr. Gruppuso , in order to provide the parties to this case
a fair opportunity to question him regarding the matters at issue in this case.
14.

This motion is not interposed for mere purposes of delay and granting the motion

will not prejudice any party, nor unduly delay resolution of this case on its merits and will further

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the interests of justice and judicial economy. The requested extension does not change the date
of trial or any pretrial deadlines.
15.

Pursuant to D.

Colo. LCivR 7.

, a proposed order is submitted with this

motion.

WHREFORE , for the reasons outlined in the above motion , Defendants respectfully
request that this Court enter an order amending the First Pretrial Order for the limited purpose of
completing the deposition ofMr. Vito B. Gruppuso.
Dated this 6th day of March , 2006.
APPROVED:

s/ Melissa C. Collins
John R. Trigg

s/ John D. Martin John D. Martin
OSTER MATIN & FABER , LLC
717 - 1 Street , Suite 1475 Denver , Colorado 80202 (303) 382- 1200 Fax: (303) 382- 1202

Julie M. Walker
Melissa C. Collins WHEELER TRIGG KENNDY LLP

1801 California Street , Suite 3600 Denver , Colorado 80202 (303) 292- 2525 Fax: (303) 294- 1879

Tel:

Tel:

Jeffrey A. Chase
JACOBS CHASE FRICK KLEINOPF

ATTORNYS FOR DEFENDANT
FIRST CAPITAL

& KELLEY , LLC
1050 - 1

Street , Suite 1500

Denver , Colorado 80265 (303) 685- 4800 Fax: (303) 685- 4869

Tel:

ATTORNYS FOR DEFENDANT
NATIONAL UNION

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s/ Charles R. Tuffey Charles R. Tuffey Donna B. Howard
GROTEFELD & DENENBERG , LLC 30800 Telegraph Road , Suite 3858 Bingham Farms , Michigan 48025 (248) 727- 7100

s/ Robert 1. Zavaglia
Paul E. Collins

Robert 1. Zavaglia
TREECE , ALFREY , MUSAT & BOSWORTH , P.

Fax: (248) 593- 5808
OF HARTFORD

Tel:

Street , Suite 1600 Denver , Colorado 80202 (303) 292- 2700 Fax: (303) 295- 0414
999 - 18

Tel:

ATTORNYS FOR DEFENDANT SECURTY INSURCE COMPANY

ATTORNYS FOR DEFENDANT ROGER
METZGER ASSOCIATES

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE (CM/ECF)
I hereby

certified that on March

6 , 2006

,I

electronically fied the foregoing

DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR LEA VE TO DEPOSE MR. VITO B. GRUPPUSO with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/CF system which will send notification of such fiing
the following e-mail addresses:

Nicholas Aidan Brady
nick. brady
j chase

bakerbotts. com
j ctkk. com

Jeffrey A. Chase
j ctkk. com vlsanders

Melissa C. Collns
collins wtklaw. com

Paul E. Collns
pcollins tamblaw. com cjones tamblaw. com

Karma Micaela Giulianell
Karma. Giulianelli
Bartlit- Beck. com

Stephen J. Horace
shorace lathropgage. com cdunkel Lester C. Houtz lester. houtz bartlit - beck. com
lathropgage. com j edwards lathropgage. com

Steven Matthew Kelso
kelso wtklaw. com hand wtklaw. com

John D. Martin
j martin
ostermartin. com bgadison

ostermartin. com

Michael C. Massengale
michael. massengale

bakerbotts. com patti. barker
msfuc. com; bvillani

bakerbotts. com
msfuc. com

James M. Miletich
j miletich
j mitzner
msfuc. com mdavis

John Paul Mitzner
allman- mitzner. com renztimr

msn. com

J ed Reeg
j reeg

lathropgage. com ethompson

lathropgage. com

Thomas Leroy Roberts
tlr rlplaw. com kjh rlplaw. com
Leonard B. Rose

lrose lathropgage. com ethomp son lathropgage. com

Barry Alan Schwartz
bschwartz ksrlaw. com pquines ksrlaw. com John R. Trigg trigg wtklaw. com testa wtklaw. com;allen wtklaw. com; schechter wtklaw. com;coutain wtklaw. com

Charles R. Tumey
crt gd- llc. com acs gd- llc. com

Case 1:01-cv-02018-RPM-MJW

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Julie M. Walker
walker~wtklaw. com mcguire~wtklaw. com Rozana Sinishtaj Widlicka vmk~gd- llc. com rsw~gd- llc. com

Robert James Zavaglia, Jr
zavaglia~tamblaw. com atreece~tamblaw. com;cj ones~tamblaw. com

and I hereby certify that I have mailed the documents to the following non CM/CF participants
via U. S. Mail:

Todd B. Denenberg
Grotefeld & Denenberg, LLC 30800 Telegraph Road , #3858 Bingham Farms , MI 48025

Wiliam H. Jeffress, Jr
Baker & Botts1299 Pennsylvania Avenue , N. Washington , DC 20004- 1109
, #1300

Elizabeth Leigh Thompson
Bartlit, Beck , Herman , Palenchar & Scott- Ilinois 54 West Hubbard Street , #300 Chicago , IL 60610

John T. Wolak Gibbons , Del Deo , Dolan , Griffnger & Vecchione One Riverfront Plaza Newark , NJ 07102

Donna B. Howard
Grotefeld & Denenberg, LLC 30800 Telegraph Road , #3858 Bingham Farms , MI 48025

s/ Melissa C. Collins by Sherry Testa
John R. Trigg

Julie M. Walker
Melissa C. Collins
Attorneys for

Defendant First Capital Group Wheeler Trigg Kennedy LLP 1801 California Street , Suite 3600 Denver , CO 80202 Telephone: 303- 292- 2525; Facsimile: 303- 294- 1879