Schmidt et al v. Idaho Department of Corrections et al

Filing 45

ORDER SETTING TRIAL - A 5- day Jury Trial is set for 10/17/2016 01:30 PM in Boise - Courtroom 3 before Judge B. Lynn Winmill. Telephonic Pretrial Conference set for 9/28/2016 03:00 PM in Boise Chambers before Judge B. Lynn Winmill. Rule 702 Motions d ue by 4/18/2016. Witness Lists, Exhibit Lists, Exhibits, Proposed Voir Dire, Proposed Jury Instructions, TrialBriefs and Motions in Limine due by 9/14/2016. The parties agree that they shall notify the Court on or before 8/31/2016 that the case has either settled or will definitely go to trial (Case Management deadline set for 8/31/2016). Signed by Judge B. Lynn Winmill. (caused to be mailed to non Registered Participants at the addresses listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) by (cjs)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

JEREMIAH B. SCHMIDT, JESS
TRONSON, and IGNACIO TELLEZ,
Plaintiffs,

Case No. 1:14-cv-00242-BLW
ORDER SETTING TRIAL

v.
IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS, et. al.,
Defendants.

On March 8, 2016, the Court held a status conference for the purpose of setting a
trial date in this matter. Based on that conference, the Court issues the following order:
NOW THEREFORE IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the following deadlines and
procedures shall govern the remainder of this litigation:
1.

Trial Date: A 5-day trial shall be set for October 17, 2016, at 1:30 p.m. in the
Federal Courthouse in Boise, Idaho. Beginning on day two, trial shall begin at
8:30 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m., with two fifteen minute breaks.

2.

Pretrial Date: A telephonic pretrial conference shall be held on September 28,
2016, at 3:00 p.m. Counsel for Plaintiff shall initiate the call. The Court can be
reached at [phone]. The purpose of the conference is to discuss and

ORDER SETTING TRIAL - 1

resolve (1) the legal issues remaining in the case; (2) evidentiary issues; (3) trial
logistics; and (4) any other matter pertaining to the trial. Not less than twenty days
prior to the date of the pretrial conference, the parties shall communicate and reach
agreement on as many items as possible. The parties shall be prepared to discuss
with the Court those items over which counsel disagrees.
3.

Rule 702 Motions: In cases involving serious Daubert issues, the parties shall
contact Jeff Severson on or before April 18, 2016 to determine whether a hearing
is necessary.

4.

Witness Lists: The parties shall exchange witness lists on or before September
14, 2016. The witness lists shall contain the material listed in F.R.C.P.
26(a)(3)(A)&(B), and shall include a full summary, not just the subject, of the
witnesses’ expected testimony.

5.

Exhibit Lists, Exhibits, Proposed Voir Dire, Proposed Jury Instructions, Trial
Briefs and Motions in Limine: All exhibit lists, proposed voir dire, proposed jury
instructions, trial briefs, and motions in limine shall be filed with the Court on or
before September 14, 2016. On the same date the parties shall exchange all trial
exhibits, but shall not provide them to the Court until the day of trial. Counsel
shall only provide the Court with a set of original pre-marked exhibits. Because of
the use of electronic evidence presentation systems, it is unnecessary to provide
any copies. Counsel may wish to have available in the courtroom a copy of any

ORDER SETTING TRIAL - 2

exhibits which the Court may find difficult to review through the evidence
presentation system. The exhibit lists shall follow the guidelines set out in Local
Rule 16.3(f) to the extent it is not inconsistent with this Order. The exhibit lists
shall be prepared on form provided by the Deputy Clerk, with sufficient copies for
the Judge, the Deputy Clerk, and the Law Clerk. Exhibit numbers 1 through 999
shall be reserved for joint exhibits; exhibit numbers 1000 through 1999 shall be
reserved for plaintiff’s exhibits; exhibit numbers 2000 through 2999 shall be
reserved for the first defendant listed on the caption; exhibit numbers 3000 through
3999 shall be reserved for the second defendant listed on the caption; and so on.
Counsel shall review their exhibits, determine any duplication, and jointly mark
and stipulate to the admission of those exhibits that both sides intend to offer and
rely upon. The proposed jury instructions shall follow the guidelines set out in
Local Rule 51.1 to the extent it is not inconsistent with this Order. Additionally,
counsel shall provide a clean copy of the Jury Instructions to the Court in Word
format and emailed to [e-mail].
6.

Settlement/Mediation Deadline: The parties agree that they shall notify the Court
on or before August 31, 2016 that the case has either settled or will definitely go
to trial.

7.

Trial Procedures:
a.

The Court will generally control voir dire, and counsel will be limited to 20-

ORDER SETTING TRIAL - 3

30 minutes. Counsel are cautioned not to repeat questions already asked by
the Court or other counsel and are advised that the Court will not permit
voir dire which appears intended to influence the jury rather than explore
appropriate concerns with a juror’s ability to be fair and impartial.
b.

Counsel shall exercise good faith in attempting to reach a stipulation on
undisputed facts and admission of exhibits.

c.

During trial, the jury will be in the box hearing testimony the entire trial day
between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., except for two standard fifteen minute
morning and afternoon recesses.

d.

During the time the jury is in the jury box, no argument, beyond onesentence evidentiary objections, shall be allowed to interrupt the flow of
testimony. Almost all objections should be stated in one to three words
(“hearsay”, “asked & answered”, “irrelevant”, etc.). If counsel have matters
that need to be resolved outside the presence of the jury, they are to advise
the Court and counsel prior to the issue arising during trial so that it can be
heard during a recess, or before or after the jury convenes. Where the need
for such a hearing cannot be anticipated, the Court will direct the examining
counsel to avoid the objectionable subject and continue on a different line
of questioning so that the objection can be argued and resolved at the next
recess. To avoid late-night sessions, counsel are advised to bring up all

ORDER SETTING TRIAL - 4

anticipated evidentiary questions in their pretrial briefs.
e.

Counsel shall have enough witnesses ready to ensure a full day of
testimony. If witnesses are unavoidable delayed, counsel shall promptly
notify the court and opposing counsel.

f.

When counsel announce the name of a witness called to testify, the Court or
the clerk will summon the witness forward to be sworn, the clerk will
administer the oath and, after the witness is seated, ask the witness to state
her or his name and spell her or his last name for the record. I will then
indicate to counsel that she or he may inquire of the witness.

g.

Please do not address parties or witnesses (including your own) by her or
his first name unless such familiarity is clearly appropriate, and is not likely
to be offensive to the witness or any juror. In case of doubt, don’t.

h.

Your clients and your witnesses should be instructed that they should
always refer to you and opposing counsel by last names.

i.

You are responsible to advise your clients, your witnesses and everyone
associated with your client to avoid all contact with the jurors. This
prohibition includes seemingly innocuous behavior like riding on an
elevator with a juror, saying hello to a juror, or even acknowledging the
juror’s presence.

j.

I try to conduct at least 2 or 3 informal jury instruction conferences off the

ORDER SETTING TRIAL - 5

record to try and resolve most differences by agreement. Those sessions will
be held at the end of the trial day and may stretch into the evening. At the
end of those sessions, we will have refined the issues of contention so that I
can give you a set of my final instructions and you can state your objections
on the record.
DATED: March 8, 2016

B. LYNN WINMILL
Chief U.S. District Court Judge

ORDER SETTING TRIAL - 6