Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday overturned a series of orders from a divorce case where an Arapahoe County magistrate admitted he did not recall what was going on but proceeded to rule anyway.

A three-judge Court of Appeal panel noted the procedural rules require judges and magistrates to specifically state their findings of facts and conclusions of law. The Colorado Supreme Court has also instructed that it is acceptable to assume judges who adopt one party’s proposed order have done so because they agree with the facts.

“But we agree with wife that the circumstances of this case do not permit this assumption,” wrote Chief Judge Gilbert M. Román in the Sept. 4 opinion, because of the magistrate’s “admitted lack of knowledge.”

Toka Y. Elgharably and Mohamad Alnouri began the process of divorcing in 2023. In April 2024, Magistrate Frank Moschetti held a 2.5-hour hearing where the spouses testified. He then scheduled a court date for Aug. 9 to rule upon permanent orders for the divorce.

For reasons that were disputed on appeal, only Alnouri and his counsel were present that day. Moschetti told them about various personal tragedies and unforeseen obligations he had recently experienced since the hearing.

“I’ve been exhausted and I looked this week to try to find my notes from the hearing that was held in this case back in April. And my apologies, I cannot find them,” he admitted. “I know my mind is not where it should be. But I am unable to proceed with our final ruling for your client and for you and for the other party.”

Moschetti continued that he was “not prepared to enter a final ruling this afternoon, again, with my apologies, and I’m not sure how we should proceed. I suspect I will not be able to locate my notes from our hearing in April.”

Without those notes, “I don’t recall this case specifically and would not be able to resolve what is outstanding,” he added.

Nonetheless, Moschetti briefly reviewed the proposed agreements regarding separation and decided to adopt the one from Alnouri.

Elgharably then appealed.

“The fact that the Magistrate entered orders after admitting ‘I don’t recall this case specifically and would not be able to resolve what is outstanding’ is an exceptionally rare circumstance that gravely undermines judicial credibility,” argued attorney Olivia J. Larson.

The Court of Appeals panel agreed Moschetti’s statements were problematic, and the orders he adopted were at times bewildering. For example, Moschetti had originally imposed certain conditions at the April hearing regarding parenting time, and only one spouse had complied by the time of the permanent orders. But without explanation, Moschetti’s ultimate decision proceeded as if both spouses were compliant.

“The order is therefore inadequate,” wrote Román.

The panel also critiqued Moschetti’s inscrutable rulings about parental decision-making, child support and property division. It was “woefully inadequate,” explained Román, that the order distributing marital assets omitted the legal factors Moschetti was supposed to consider.

The Court of Appeals returned the case for a redo and, if necessary, a new hearing entirely.

The case is In the Marriage of Alnouri.