United States of America v. 400 Acres of Land, more or less, situate in Lincoln County, State of Nevada

Filing 575

ORDER approving ECF No. 573 Stipulation regarding trial procedures. The Court's minute order (ECF No. 572 is amended as detailed in the attached order. The deadline for the filing of trial briefs is vacated. See document for additional specifics. Signed by Chief Judge Miranda M. Du on 1/24/2020. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - PAV)

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NICHOLAS A. TRUTANICH
United States Attorney
District of Nevada
TROY K. FLAKE
Deputy Civil Chief
501 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 1100
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: 702-388-6787
Email: [e-mail]
EUGENE N. HANSEN
ANTHONY C. GENTNER
MARK C. ELMER
READE E. WILSON
Trial Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice
Environment & Natural Resources Division
P.O. Box 7611, Ben Franklin Station
Washington, DC 20044-7611
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: 202-514-8865
Email: [e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Attorneys for the United States

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Case No. 2:15-cv-01743-MMD-NJK

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Plaintiff,
v.
400 ACRES OF LAND, more or less,
situate in Lincoln County, State of Nevada;
and JESSIE J. COX, et al.,
Defendants.

STIPULATION REGARDING TRIAL
PROCEDURES

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The Parties respectfully submit the following Stipulation Regarding Trial Procedures:

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RECITALS
WHEREAS, the Court entered a Minute Order on January 17, 2020 (Dkt. 572) providing,

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inter alia, that (1) the Parties each shall submit a trial brief not to exceed 30-pages setting forth

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the Parties’ stipulated facts and issues to be tried, (2) Defendants shall number their trial exhibits

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beginning with number 500 (or a number to follow Plaintiff’s last exhibit number, if Plaintiff has

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more than 500 exhibits), and (3) the Parties shall provide to the Court four complete sets of all

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exhibits;

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WHEREAS, the Court previously entered a Joint Pretrial Order setting forth the Parties’
stipulated facts and listing the issues to be tried (Dkt. 566);
WHEREAS, in light of the Joint Pretrial Order, the Parties do not believe that trial briefs
are necessary;
WHEREAS, the Parties additionally believe that they should not brief legal and factual
issues to the Commission prior to the trial;
WHEREAS, prior to issuance of the Minute Order, the Parties already had exchanged

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pre-marked copies of exhibits, and Defendants had pre-marked their exhibits as Defendants’

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Exhibit 1, Defendants’ Exhibit 2, etc.;

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WHEREAS, Defendants respectfully request that they be excused from the burden of renumbering their exhibits, and the United States has no objection to this request;
WHEREAS, the Parties have voluminous exhibits and believe that the Court and

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Commission would benefit from the Parties providing hard copies only of those exhibits that

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they expect to use at trial, as opposed to all trial exhibits (i.e., hard copies of “may use” exhibits

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would not be provided except in electronic form);

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WHEREAS, to the extent that the Parties put forward a “may use” exhibit not previously

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provided in the binders, the Parties will be prepared to hand-up hard copies of such exhibits to

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the Commission and Court deputy/administrator;

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WHEREAS, the Parties have agreed that the trial time for witness examinations should

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be divided equally and, to that end, have agreed to a “chess clock” method of keeping track of

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time;

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WHEREAS, the Parties have agreed on a procedure for disclosing demonstrative exhibits
and the order of calling witnesses; and
WHEREAS, the Parties respectfully request that the Court so order these stipulations.

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STIPULATIONS FOR TRIAL
NOW THEREFORE, the Parties stipulate as follows with respect to the trial scheduled in
this case:
1.)

The Minute Order entered on January 17, 2020 (Dkt. 572) (“Minute Order”) is

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hereby amended to eliminate the requirement of submission of trial briefs. The Joint Pretrial

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Order entered by the Court (Dkt. 566), which sets forth the stipulated facts and issues to be tried,

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shall be provided to the Commission, without the attached Exhibits, in lieu of trial briefs. 

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2.)

The Minute Order is hereby amended to permit Defendants’ trial exhibits to be

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assigned numbers beginning with Defendants’ Exhibit 1, Defendants’ Exhibit 2, etc, Defendants

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do not need to begin numbering their exhibits at 500 or some greater number to follow Plaintiff’s

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exhibit numbers.  

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3.)

The Minute Order is hereby amended to require the Parties to submit to the

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Courtroom Administrator, one week before trial, four (4) binders of only those exhibits that the

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Parties expect to use at trial; however, the electronic copy of the exhibits to be provided to the

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Courtroom Administrator shall include all exhibits that the Parties may use at trial. To the extent

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that the Parties use at trial any exhibit not provided in the binders, they shall have hard copies

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available for all of the Commissioners and the Courtroom Deputy/Administrator. 

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4.)

Plaintiff and Defendants shall be allocated equal time for examining witnesses (to

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spend however each party deems appropriate). To that end, a “chess clock” method is adopted

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for the trial. Plaintiff and Defendants shall delegate a person to keep track of witness

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examination time, and these two representatives shall confer and agree during breaks regarding

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the time each party used to examine the witness(es). Time spent by the Commissioners to

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examine a witness shall not be counted against either party, nor shall time arguing any legal or

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factual issue. The trial is scheduled for nine (9) days of witness testimony, or an estimated 54

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total hours of witness examination time (nine days multiplied by six hours of witness

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examination). Plaintiff and Defendants accordingly each shall have an estimated maximum of

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twenty-seven (27) hours of witness examination time to use however they deem appropriate

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(although they need not use all of their allocated time). The estimated maximum examination

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time that may be used by either Plaintiff or Defendants may be modified by the Commission,

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provided that Plaintiff and Defendants are accorded equal time for examining witnesses.  

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5.)

Any demonstrative exhibit shall be disclosed to the other party by 6:00pm on the

day preceding the use of such demonstrative exhibit. 
6.)

Each party shall disclose the witnesses that they intend to call the next day of trial.

These disclosures shall be made by 6:00pm on the day preceding the calling of said witnesses. 

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WHEREFORE, the Parties respectfully request that the Court so order the above
stipulations. 

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SO ORDERED:

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___________________________________
THE HON. MIRANDA M. DU
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: January 23, 2020

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Case 2:15-cv-01743-MMD-NJK Document 573 Filed 01/23/20 Page 5 of 7

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FOR THE PARTIES:

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Dated January 23, 2020

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FOR PLAINTIFF:

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NICHOLAS A. TRUTANICH
United States Attorney
District of Nevada

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TROY K. FLAKE
Deputy Civil Chief
District of Nevada

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/s/ Eugene N. Hansen
EUGENE N. HANSEN
ANTHONY C. GENTNER
MARK C. ELMER
READE E. WILSON
Trial Attorneys
U.S. Department of Justice

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Counsel for the United States
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FOR THE SHEAHAN LANDOWNERS

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/s/ Michael A. Schneider
KERMITT L. WATERS, Bar No. 2571
JAMES J. LEAVITT, Bar No. 6032
MICHAEL A. SCHNEIDER, Bar No. 8887
AUTUMN L. WATERS, Bar No. 8917
704 South Ninth Street
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Telephone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

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Counsel for Defendant Sheahan Landowners

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Case 2:15-cv-01743-MMD-NJK Document 573 Filed 01/23/20 Page 6 of 7

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FOR THE TANIS LANDOWNERS

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/s/ John R. Funk
MARK H. GUNDERSON, Bar No. 2134
JOHN R. FUNK, Bar No. 12372
AUSTIN K. SWEET, Bar No. 11725
3895 Warren Way
Reno, Nevada 89509
Telephone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Counsel for Defendant Tanis Landowners

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Case 2:15-cv-01743-MMD-NJK Document 573 Filed 01/23/20 Page 7 of 7

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

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I hereby certify that on January 23, 2020, I caused the foregoing Stipulation Regarding
Trial Issues to be served on all Parties who have appeared in this action using the Court’s case
management/electronic case filing system. I further certify that on January 23, 2020, the United
States sent a copy of the foregoing via U.S. mail to the following interested Parties:
Sandra Sears-Lavallee
1172 Skyline Road
Henderson, NV 89002

Debbie DeVito
c/o Stanley Pedder
3445 Golden Gate Way
Lafayette, CA 94549

John B. Sheahan
address unknown

Melanie Goodpasture
P.O. Box 7044
Cotati, CA 94931

Deborah Lynn Sheahan
4662 Gabriel Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89121

House Rabbit Society
c/o Anne Martin (Registered Agent)
148 Broadway
Richmond, CA 94804

Diane Sibley-Origlia
1615 Via Romero
Alamo, CA 94507

Animal Place
c/o Kim Sturla (Registered Agent)
17314 McCourtney Road
Grass Valley, CA 95949

Katherine Kell
c/o Stanley Pedder
3445 Golden Gate Way
Lafayette, CA 94549

Hui Chu Poole
165 Lakewood Road
Walnut Creek, CA 94598

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Amy E. Sears
P.O. Box 71
Pioche, NV 89043
/s/Eugene N. Hansen
Eugene N. Hansen