Duste v. Chevron Products Company, Inc.

Filing 67

FINAL PRETRIAL ORDER. Signed by Judge Maria-Elena James on 9/29/2011. (cdnS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/29/2011)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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Northern District of California

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RICHARD A DUSTE,
Plaintiff,

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No. C 08-3980 MEJ
FINAL PRETRIAL ORDER

v.
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CHEVRON PRODUCTS CO.,
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Defendant.
_____________________________________/

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For the Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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On September 29, 2011, the Court held a Final Pretrial Conference in this matter. This Order

13 summarizes the Court’s rulings and information about how the trial will be conducted.
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The trial will proceed in Courtroom D as follows: the parties will appear at 9:00 a.m. on

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Monday, October 3, 2011. Jury selection will commence at 9:30 a.m. The trial will start at

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1:15 p.m. Each day thereafter, trial will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a 15-minute break at 11:00

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a.m., a 45-minute lunch at 12:30 p.m., and a 15-minute afternoon break at 2:30 p.m. Trial will

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conclude at 4:00 p.m. each day.

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Each side has 7 hours to present their case in chief. The 7 hours does not include opening and

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closing statements. Opening statements must be limited to 30 minutes per side and closing

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statements must be limited to 1 hour per side.

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In order to avoid prejudice to either side, the Court will follow the normal rule regarding

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objections to evidence and other legal points which the Court must decide: No lengthy

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arguments in front of the jury. No sidebars. Any such argument should occur before 9:30

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a.m. or after 4:00 p.m. unless it is unavoidable. Objections should consist of a citation to the

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Federal Rule(s) of Evidence at issue and the applicable generic description (e.g. “relevance.”)

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The parties must rise when making an objection.

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The parties must seek leave to approach witnesses.

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At the close of each trial day, counsel must disclose to the opposing party the witnesses to be

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called the following two days and the exhibit numbers of the documents that counsel plans to

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use on direct (other than for impeachment). Within 24 hours of such disclosure, counsel shall

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exchange exhibit numbers to be used in cross of the witnesses (other than for impeachment).

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Parties will not be allowed to call witnesses or use documents other than those that have been

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previously disclosed in the Pretrial Conference Statement, and in the daily witness lists.

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With respect to contested Jury Instruction No. 19, the Court reserves ruling on which

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instruction will be given, but notes that it is inclined to give Defendant’s proposed instruction

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with some modification consistent with the California standard instruction on scope of

With respect to the disputed language in Proposed Jury Instructions 20 and 21, and the

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For the Northern District of California

employment.

11 10.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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parties’ Joint Proposed Statement of the Case to be read to the jury, the Court will read

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Plaintiff’s proposed language in the Statement of the Case to the jury and will determine

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which language is appropriate for the jury instructions at the close of evidence. The Court

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will also include language indicating that this is a case where the parties agree that Chevron’s

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termination of Plaintiff’s employment was lawful.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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19 Dated: September 29, 2011
_______________________________
Maria-Elena James
Chief United States Magistrate Judge

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