Tomuel Lee v. United States

81 F.3d 169 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. Tomuel LEE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant-Appellee. No. 94-17066. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Feb. 13, 1996. Decided March 28, 1996. 1 Before: BOOCHEVER and FERNANDEZ, Circuit Judges, and KELLEHER, * District Judge. 2 MEMORANDUM ** 3 After a bench trial, the district court held that Plaintiff/Appellant Tomuel Lee's (Lee) negligence suit was barred by the discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act. 28 U.S.C. § 2680 (a). In the alternative, the district court held that Colorado's comparative negligence statute barred any recovery by Lee, because Lee's negligence was greater than that of the United States. Lee challenges both of the district court's holdings and several of the district court's findings of fact. We AFFIRM. I. BACKGROUND 4 On September 6, 1990, someone reported an accident had occurred on Mesa Verde Route…