How to Reinstate a Motion That Was Dismissed in Error
A divorced spouse filed an enforcement motion in a Colorado divorce court. The court referred the matter for mediation. The other spouse did not respond to efforts to schedule a mediation, so the mediator reported to the court that the respondent had not cooperated with mediation. The court apparently mistook this to mean that the spouse who filed the motion had not participated, as she was the respondent in the original divorce case. The motion was dismissed due to the non-cooperation. How can she get the motion reinstated and decided by the court?
Re: How to Reinstate a Motion That Was Dismissed in Error
If in fact this is a miscommunication between the mediator and the court, albeit one that sounds like an error by the court, perhaps the mediator will be willing contact the court to straighten out the problem.
If the order of dismissal was entered by a magistrate, she should file a petition for review of the magistrate's order by the judge assigned to the case, setting forth in her petition the facts that led to the erroneous dismissal. If the court agrees that an error occurred, the case should be reinstated. The petition for review should be filed within 21 days of the magistrate's order.
If the order of dismissal was entered by a judge, she should file a motion for reconsideration under Rule 59 or Rule 60 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, explaining what happened and asking that the judge reconsider the decision to dismiss the case. Under Rule 59, the motion must be filed within 14 days of the order of dismissal.