Wouldn't they need a "not guilty" verdict on his current charges before BM and his lawyers can claim LE screwed up?
Absolutely, your thought is spot on.
Colorado law requires someone who wants to sue a public entity or employee to file a formal written "notice of claim" within 180 days after discovering the injury. The claim is barred if the notice is not timely filed (see below).
BM is spending money on an aggressive tactic that is consistent with his legal position in the criminal case, that the prosecutor should be sanctioned for withholding evidence, however temporarily or inadvertently. But IMO it is simply a gesture.
The statute of limitations for BM's claims appears to be one year from the date he or his attorneys discovered the injury (see below). His attorneys raised the issue in legal filings before the June hearings so they knew about it well before that time.
BM's trial may take the entire month of May, 2022 to complete. Before that time, BM's attorneys will not want him subjected to the formal document disclosures, written interrogatories, and deposition obligations required of a civil litigant.
As a practical matter, he must not only be acquitted but also file his civil case almost immediately thereafter in order to avoid being barred. The claim has the faintest hope of success IMO, and prosecuting it would cost BM another $10o K on top of the $1 M he will spend defending the criminal charge.
So, MOO, this notice is posturing for public relations effect only: it will have no effect on the DA's prosecution of the case.
Colorado Revised Statutes § 24-10-109. Notice required - contents - to whom given - limitations
(1) Any person claiming to have suffered an injury by a public entity or by an employee thereof while in the course of such employment, whether or not by a willful and wanton act or omission,
shall file a written notice as provided in this section within one hundred eighty-two days after the date of the discovery of the injury, regardless of whether the person then knew all of the elements of a claim or of a cause of action for such injury. Compliance with the provisions of this section shall be a jurisdictional prerequisite to any action brought under the provisions of this article, and failure of compliance shall forever bar any such action.
Colorado Revised Statutes § 13-80-103. General limitation of actions - one year
(1) The following civil actions, regardless of the theory upon which suit is brought, or against whom suit is brought, shall be commenced within one year after the cause of action accrues, and not thereafter:
(a) The following tort actions: Assault, battery,
false imprisonment, false arrest, libel, and slander;
(b) All actions for escape of prisoners;
(c)
All actions against sheriffs, coroners, police officers, firefighters, national guardsmen, or any other law enforcement authority;
(d) All actions for any penalty or forfeiture of any penal statutes;
(e) All actions under the "Motor Vehicle Repair Act of 1977", article 9 of title 42, C.R.S.;
(f) Repealed.
(g) All actions for negligence, fraud, willful misrepresentation, deceit, or conversion of trust funds brought under section 12-61-303, C.R.S.;
(h) All actions against a person alleging liability for a penalty for commission of a class A or a class B traffic infraction, as defined in section 42-4-1701, C.R.S.