Opinion ID: 2451219
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Martinelli and Stone Tests

Text: We have articulated two different tests to apply when such information is at issue. In Martinelli, a case involving a request for personnel files maintained by the Denver Police Department, we laid out a three-part balancing test. 199 Colo. at 174, 612 P.2d at 1091. That test asks: (1) [D]oes the party seeking to come within the protection of right to confidentiality have a legitimate expectation that the materials or information will not be disclosed? (2) [I]s disclosure nonetheless required to serve a compelling state interest? (3) [I]f so, will the necessary disclosure occur in that manner which is least intrusive with respect to the right to confidentiality? Id. We have employed the Martinelli test in cases involving personnel files, Corbetta, 975 P.2d at 720-21; Martinelli, 199 Colo. at 174, 612 P.2d at 1091, computers, Cantrell, 195 P.3d at 661, and sexual history, Williams, 866 P.2d at 912. We have used a separate test, however, in cases involving requests for tax returns. Stone, 185 P.3d at 159; Alcon, 113 P.3d at 743. When a party seeks disclosure of tax returns, we require that it show that: (1) the information is relevant to the subject of the action; and (2) there is a compelling need for the information in the returns because the information sought is not otherwise readily obtainable. Stone, 185 P.3d at 159. Although we have only applied the Stone test to cases involving tax returns, federal courts have applied the test in other contexts as well. Spacecon Speciality Contractors, LLC v. Bensinger, No. 09-CV-02080-REB-KLM, 2010 WL 3927783, at -2, -7 (D.Colo. Oct.1, 2010) (requesting information relating to Spacecon from the Colorado State Directory of New Hires which is a confidential and secure repository for receiving new hire data reported by employers in Colorado); Bonanno v. Quizno's Franchise Co., LLC, 255 F.R.D. 550, 552, 555 (D.Colo.2009) (requesting information relating to a financial transaction); Gordanier v. Montezuma Water Co., No. 08-CV-01849-PAB-MJW, 2010 WL 1413109, at -2 (D.Colo. Apr. 2, 2010) (concerning a request for undescribed tapes and documents). Choosing which test to apply has proven difficult. See Cantrell, 195 P.3d at 660-61; Stone, 185 P.3d at 158;; see also Spacecon Speciality Contractors, 2010 WL 3927783, at ; Bonanno, 255 F.R.D. at 555; I'Mnaedaft, Ltd. v. Intelligent Office Sys., LLC, No. 08-CV-01804-LTB-KLM, 2009 WL 824304, at  (D.Colo. Mar. 30, 2009). Further, the facts of some cases do not lend themselves to analysis under either test. See Cantrell, 195 P.3d at 661 (recognizing that this Court has applied the Martinelli test in numerous instances where a state actor was not involved).