Smith v. The State of California Department of Highway Patrol

Filing 109

PRETRIAL ORDER. Signed by Judge James Donato on 3/12/15. (lrcS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/12/2015)

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1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 NICOLE SUMMER SMITH, Case No. 13-cv-01341-JD Plaintiff, 8 v. PRETRIAL CONFERENCE ORDER 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY PATROL, Defendant. As discussed at the pretrial conference on March 11, 2015, a jury trial of this matter is set for March 23, 2015, and will be conducted under these procedures: 1. Time limits. Each side will have 8 hours to present their case, exclusive of 15 opening statements and closing arguments. The 8 hours includes all witness 16 examination time, whether direct or cross, and whether the witness is live or 17 presented by recording. The parties will strictly conform to the timekeeping 18 procedures stated in the Court’s standing order on civil trials. Each side may use 19 up to 30 minutes for opening statements, and up to 1 hour for closing arguments. 20 Trial will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each trial day, with two 15 minute 21 breaks. The first day of trial will begin at 9:00 a.m. and may go longer to 22 accommodate openings. Trial will not be held on Wednesday. The Court has 23 blocked out March 23rd, 24th, 26th and 27th for this trial. On the afternoon of 24 March 23rd, 2015, the parties should be prepared to give opening statements and 25 plaintiff should be prepared to call her first witness. 26 2. Jury selection. The Court uses the “strike and replace” method for jury selection, 27 as described at the pretrial conference. The Court will conduct the voir dire using 28 its own questions and questions proposed by the parties. Each side will have three 1 peremptory challenges in total. Any prospective juror not excused after the initial 2 voir dire will be deemed a member of the jury and may not be subsequently 3 challenged by peremptory or otherwise. The voir dire process will repeat with any 4 replacements until eight jurors are seated. The final voir dire questions have been 5 posted. 6 3. Jury notebooks. The parties will prepare jury notebooks and lodge 12 copies -- 7 eight for the jurors and four for the Court -- by March 20, 2015. The notebooks 8 should be in the form of binders that have a plastic cover with a caption page, and 9 must include these materials: a. Lists of witnesses, attorneys, and trial dates and times. 11 United States District Court Northern District of California 10 b. A tab for witness photos. The parties will take a photo of each witness 12 outside the courtroom immediately before the witness testifies and shall 13 provide the Courtroom Deputy with 12 three-hole punched letter-sized 14 copies of each photo. The Courtroom Deputy will distribute the photos. 15 The witness must appear the same in the photo as he or she will appear on 16 the witness stand (e.g., same clothing, hairstyle, eyewear). 17 c. A tab for 25 pages of blank lined paper for notes. 18 The parties are free to suggest to the Court other materials for inclusion in the 19 binders. 20 4. Witnesses excluded from Court. No fact witness may be in court to view the 21 proceedings until the Court rules that the witness’s testimony is complete. The sole 22 exception is that each party may have one party representative present at counsel’s 23 table throughout the trial. 24 5. Objections. Immediately after the daily witness designations under the Court’s 25 standing order on civil trials, the parties must meet and confer to resolve any 26 objections to the witness, exhibits, and demonstratives. If the parties for some 27 reason cannot work out the issues, they may file a joint objection and response by 28 8 a.m. the day before the witness is to testify or the exhibit or demonstrative is to be 2 1 used. The objections and responses are limited to 3 pages each, and the joint 2 submission may not exceed 6 pages. The parties are limited to one joint 3 submission per day, and the Court does not expect to see a submission each and 4 every trial day. No declarations or other materials outside the joint submission are 5 permitted other than a copy of the disputed exhibit. The parties should resolve any 6 issues about opening statement demonstratives before March 19, 2015. 7 8 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 6. Jury instructions. The Court will post a revised set of the parties’ joint proposed instructions. The Court will provide the parties an opportunity to object. 7. Verdict form. The Court will issue a verdict form after the jury instructions have been finalized. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: March 12, 2015 ______________________________________ JAMES DONATO United States District Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

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