Denson v. Maufeld et al

Filing 112

CIVIL TRIAL PROCEDURES ORDER by Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix on 01/23/13. A three-day Jury Trial is set for 4/15/2013 09:00 AM in Courtroom C204 before Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix. Trial Preparation Conference is set for 4/2/2013 at 11:00 AM in Courtroom C204 before Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix. (nmmsl, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 09-cv-02087-KLM
SAMMIE LEE DENSON, JR.
Plaintiff,
v.
MAJOR L. MAIFELD, and
JOHN DOES 1-20,
Defendants.

CIVIL TRIAL PROCEDURES ORDER
(effective August 15, 2012)

_____________________________________________________________________
Pursuant to the Joint Consent to the Exercise of Jurisdiction by a United States
Magistrate Judge [Docket No. 109], the case has been reassigned to this Court. [#111]
The following procedures and orders supplement the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and
the local rules of this court. In order to fairly and efficiently try the merits of each case, the
Court ORDERS as follows:
I. Trial Preparation Conference (“TPC”)
The TPC will be held on April 2, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom C204, Second
Floor, Byron Rogers U.S. Courthouse, 1929 Stout St., Denver, Colorado. Trial counsel
must attend in person or by telephone. Permission to attend by telephone must be sought
by filing a written motion no later than 14 days before the TPC.
II. Pretrial Deadlines
1. Exchange of exhibit and witness lists. The parties shall exchange exhibit and
witness lists fourteen (14) days before the TPC. Exhibit lists shall identify all exhibits by
Bate-numbers. Witness lists shall identify “will call” witnesses and “may call” witnesses.
2. Objections to exhibits and witnesses. The parties shall file all objections to
exhibits and witnesses three (3) days before the TPC.
3. Trial briefs. The parties may file Trial Briefs ten (10) days before trial.

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4. Motions in limine. Motions in limine are discouraged. Instead, the parties may
flag evidentiary issues in their trial briefs. Motions to exclude expert testimony may not be
filed at this stage of the case without leave of court.
5. Proposed jury instructions. The parties shall file proposed jury instructions ten
(10) days before trial. Proposed jury instructions shall be in WordPerfect or Word format
and include citations of relevant authority in footnotes.
6. Special accommodations. Counsel shall notify my courtroom deputy of any
need for special accommodations for any attorney, party or witness, and any need for
technological equipment for videoconferencing or electronic presentation of evidence no
later than thirty (30) days before trial.
7. Settlement. Pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 54.2, counsel must notify the court
clerk and my Chambers of a settlement before twelve o’clock noon on the last court
business day before the scheduled trial date. The assessment of jury costs may be
imposed as a consequence of noncompliance with this instruction.
III. First Day of Trial
1. Witness lists. Three copies of each party’s witness list shall be provided to the
courtroom deputy and one copy to opposing counsel.
2. Exhibit lists. Three copies of each party’s exhibit list shall be provided to the
courtroom deputy and one copy to opposing counsel.
3. Exhibit notebooks. Each party shall prepare an exhibit notebook containing
original exhibits, properly marked and tabbed, with pages of each exhibit numbered. These
notebooks shall be provided to the courtroom deputy. Similar notebooks with exhibit copies
shall be provided to the court and to opposing counsel. Exhibits with more than one page
shall have each page numbered.
4. Copies of exhibits for jurors. Each party shall provide notebooks for juror
exhibits. Those exhibits which have been stipulated to may be placed in the jurors’
notebooks prior to trial. Additional exhibits may be published to the jury for placement in
juror notebooks following the exhibit’s admission into evidence at trial. Blank pages may
be inserted into juror notebooks so that jurors may take notes of the proceedings.
5. List of stipulated facts. Plaintiff shall provide an original list of any stipulated
facts to the court and two copies to the courtroom deputy.

IV. General Information
1. Voir dire. Counsel will be permitted to conduct voir dire of potential jurors, if trial
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is to a jury, for a specified amount of time, to be determined at the Trial Preparation
Conference. Accordingly, counsel should be prepared to conduct voir dire at trial as they
deem appropriate.
2. Courtroom Deputy. My courtroom deputy’s name is Monique Wiles. She can
be reached at [phone]. Any questions concerning exhibits or courtroom equipment
may be directed to her. For jury trials, a court reporter will record the proceedings.
Otherwise, the proceedings will be digitally recorded. Any request for transcripts should
be directed to the courtroom deputy. Extraordinary requests, such as for daily copy, should
be made at least 30 days in advance of the trial date.
3. Law Clerks. My law clerks can be reached at [phone]. Please do not
call them about issues which are handled by the courtroom deputy, as indicated in this
Order.
4. Witness salutations. At trial, all parties and witnesses shall be addressed as
“Mr.”, “Mrs.”, “Ms.”, “Dr.”, etc. Informal references are not permitted except when children
are testifying.
5. Timing of giving of jury instructions. In jury trials, instructions will be given
prior to closing arguments. Copies of written instructions will be given to the jury for its
deliberations.
6. Trial dates. A three-day jury trial is set for April 15, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. in
Courtroom C-204, Second Floor, Byron Rogers U.S. Courthouse, 1929 Stout Street,
Denver, Colorado.
Dated and entered at Denver, Colorado, this 23rd day of January, 2013.

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