Finegan v. Home Hotel & Motel, LLC et al

Filing 20

ORDER SETTING TRIAL AND PRETRIAL CONFERENCE. Rule 702 Motions due by 3/19/2013. The parties agree that they shall notify the Court by 9/9/2013, that the case has either settled or will definitely go to trial. witness Lists, Exhibit Lists, Exhibits, P roposed Voir Dire, Proposed Jury Instructions, Trial Briefs and Motions in Limine due by 9/16/2013. Jury Trial set for 10/21/2013 01:30 PM in Pocatello - District Courtroom before Judge B. Lynn Winmill. Telephonic Pretrial Conference set for 9/30/2013 03:00 PM in Boise Chambers before Judge B. Lynn Winmill. 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 (cjm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

ROWENA FINEGAN,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 4:12-cv-00061-BLW

v.
HOME HOTEL & MOTEL, LLC,
Defendant.

ORDER SETTING TRIAL AND
PRETRIAL CONFERENCE

On March 21, 2013, 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:
IT IS 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 21, 2013, at 1:30 p.m. in the
Federal Courthouse in Pocatello, 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 30, 2013, 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 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

ORDER SETTING TRIAL & PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE - 1

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 at [phone] on or before March 19, 2013 to
determine whether a hearing is necessary.

4.

Witness Lists: The parties shall exchange witness lists on or before September
16, 2013. 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 16, 2013. 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
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

ORDER SETTING TRIAL & PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE - 2

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 or WordPerfect format and emailed to
[e-mail].
6.

Settlement/Mediation Deadline: The parties agree that they shall notify the Court
on or before September 9, 2013 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
20-30 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

ORDER SETTING TRIAL & PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE - 3

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 anticipated evidentiary questions in their pretrial
briefs.

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Examples of improper objections: “I object to that question, Your
Honor, because I am sure that Charlie Witness did not read that
document very carefully before he signed it”; or, “I object, Your
Honor, because Charlene Witness has already testified that she can't
remember.” These “speaking objections” would suggest an answer.
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

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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
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.

k.

To ensure that trial proceeds as scheduled, I will divide the parties’ time
and hold counsel to that time by keeping them “on the clock.” This process
will be discussed in more detail at the Pre-Trial Conference.

DATED: March 22, 2013

_________________________
B. Lynn Winmill
Chief Judge
United States District Court

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