Rowe v. Watered Down Farms

This case presents the issue of whether a motion for anew trial is a jurisdictional prerequisite for appellate review of the denial of a motion to vacate a default judgment. We reverse the court of appeals’ decision in Watered Down Farms v. Rowe, 39 Colo. App. 169, 566 P.2d 710, and hold that a motion for a new trial must be made unless the C.R.C.P. 60(b) hearing on the motion to vacate does not involve “controverted issues of fact.”

Respondent Watered Down Farms filed an action in Yuma County District Court on December 29, 1975, against petitioner Clarence Rowe. The complaint alleged breach…