Vedrani v. New Hampshire Department of Corrections

Filing 27

PROCEDURAL ORDER: Parties to confer and schedule evidentiary hearing with the clerk. Parties' supplemental briefs addressing issues as outlined to be filed no later than 7 days before hearing. Parties are allowed 35 pages, not including exhibits. So Ordered by Judge Joseph N. Laplante. (jb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Mark Vedrani
v.

Civil No. 09-cv-320-JL

William Wrenn, Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of
Corrections, et al.
PROCEDURAL ORDER
On March 30, 2011, the court denied without prejudice the
defendant's motion for summary judgment.

The parties are ordered

to confer and schedule an evidentiary hearing with the clerk
which will address Issues 1, 2, and 3 as set forth in Judge
Muirhead's November 18, 2099 order (document no. 4).
The parties shall file supplemental briefs no later than 7
days before the hearing.

The briefs shall address Issues 1

through 3, and shall specifically address:
•
the overarching issue, implicated in Issues 1 and 2, of
defense counsel's election of a trial strategy and tactics
in pursuance of a "mutual combat" finding by the jury, as
opposed to the assertion of self-defense as an affirmative
defense. Counsel shall specifically address and cite
applicable federal authority on the permissibility and
constitutional implications of counsel's election of a trial
strategy or tactic that is inconsistent with a strategy
desired by a defendant, and in support of which a defendant
purportedly wished to testify;1 and

1

In other words, was defense counsel required to adopt the
strategy and tactics urged by his client? And if so, was his
failure to do so a violation of his client’s constitutional
rights?

•
the legal operation of "mutual combat" under the New
Hampshire Criminal Code as an offense, a lesser included
offense, and an affirmative defense, both in general and
under the particular circumstances present in this case.
The briefs shall not include citations to the record, but
rather shall include as exhibits any portion of the record cited
in the brief.
Further, the brief shall identify the applicable standard of
review, and identify all points in the state court record where
each claim was addressed.
The parties are allowed 35 pages, not including exhibits.

SO ORDERED.

Joseph N. Laplante
United States District Judge
Dated:
cc:

June 10, 2011

Sven Wiberg, Esq.
Elizabeth C. Woodcock, Esq.

2