Ayers v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., et al

Filing 82

ORDER TO RESUBMIT JOINT PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS. Signed by Judge Joseph C. Spero on December 1, 2015. (jcslc1S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/1/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SUNSHINE AYERS,

Case No. 14-cv-04707-JCS

Plaintiff,
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v.

ORDER TO RESUBMIT JOINT
PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS

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WAL-MART STORES, INC., et al.,
Defendants.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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The parties have filed Joint Proposed Jury Instructions that do not comply with the Court’s

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pretrial order. See Docket No. 59, ¶ V(A)(2) & (3). First, rather than filing the jury instructions

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themselves, the parties have simply filed a list of form instructions. Second, the instructions are to

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be arranged in “a logical sequence,” see id., in other words, in a sequence that will be logical to

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the jury when the instructions are read to them. The list provided by the parties is not organized in

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a way that can be easily understood by a jury. Third, many of the form instructions listed by the

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parties require that specific information be inserted or that the instruction be otherwise tailored to

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the relevant facts or law. For example, Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instruction No. 1.2 requires

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descriptions of the parties’ claims and defenses. The parties have not provided any of the language

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that should be used in such instructions. Finally, the Court’s pretrial order includes specific

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guidelines relating to disputed instructions. Where, as here, each side offers an instruction to

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which the other side objects but does not offer its own competing version of that instruction, the

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party objecting to the instruction is instructed to “explain why” on a separate page inserted in lieu

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of an alternate version. Neither side has done so.

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The parties are instructed to meet and confer and jointly create a set of jury instructions
that complies with the Court’s order, to be filed no later than December 8, 2015.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: December 1, 2015

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______________________________________
JOSEPH C. SPERO
Chief Magistrate Judge

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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