Martensen v. Koch

Filing 342

ORDER granting 277 Motion to Exclude Testimony by Darrell D. Hallett and Strike His Expert Report. By Judge Robert E. Blackburn on 1/30/2015.(alowe)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge Robert E. Blackburn
Civil Action No. 13-cv-02411-REB-CBS
KIRBY MARTENSEN,
Plaintiff,
v.
WILLIAM KOCH, and
DOES 1-25,
Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT WILLIAM I. KOCH’S
MOTION TO EXCLUDE TESTIMONY BY DARRELL D. HALLETT
AND STRIKE HIS EXPERT REPORT
Blackburn, J.
The matter before me is Defendant William I. Koch’s Motion To Exclude
Testimony by Darrell D. Hallett and Strike His Expert Report [#277],1 filed
September 17, 2014. I grant the motion.
Mr. Darrell Hallett is a tax lawyer. Plaintiff proffers his testimony in order to
establish alleged tax improprieties in the 2010 restructuring of Oxbow Carbon, LLC
(“Oxbow”), and the concomitant creation of Oxbow Carbon & Minerals GmbH (“OCMI”).
Mr. Hallett opines that Oxbow committed tax evasion in 2010 and 2011 in connection
with the operations of OCMI.

1
“[#277]” is an example of the convention I use to identify the docket number assigned to a
specific paper by the court’s case management and electronic case filing system (CM/ECF). I use this
convention throughout this order.

Regardless of the propriety of these opinions under Rule 702, more practical
considerations dictate that this testimony be excluded. Specifically, I recently granted
defendant’s motion to preclude most evidence related to these matters. (See Order
Granting Defendant William I. Koch’s Motion In Limine To Preclude Evidence of
Oxbow’s Organizational Structure and Alleged Tax Violations [#341], filed January
28, 2015.) By that order, I found that these matters were wholly irrelevant to the issues
to be determined by the jury and concluded further that, even if marginally relevant, the
introduction of evidence or testimony regarding the particulars of OCMI’s tax structure
would contravene Rule 403. Mr. Hallett’s proffered expert testimony is likewise
irrelevant and will be stricken on that basis.
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that Defendant William I. Koch’s Motion To
Exclude Testimony by Darrell D. Hallett and Strike His Expert Report [#277], filed
September 17, 2014, is GRANTED.
Dated January 30, 2015, at Denver, Colorado.
BY THE COURT:

2