United States of America et al v. Anderson, et al.

Filing 381

ORDER granting 379 Unopposed MOTION TO ALLOW TESTIMONY OF FACT WITNESS MELISSA COCKRELL BY CONTEMPORANEOUS VIDEOCONFERENCING TRANSMISSION. Signed by Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern on 4/26/2022. (DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(bs)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NORTHEASTERN DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al.,
Plaintiff,
v.
DAVID G. FLORENCE,

Case No. 2:13-cv-00035
Magistrate Judge Alistair E. Newbern

Defendant.
ORDER
The United States has filed a motion under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 43(a) to allow
its witness Melissa Cockrell to testify by contemporaneous videoconferencing transmission at the
upcoming trial of this matter. (Doc. No. 379.) The motion is not opposed by any other party.
Rule 43(a) provides that, although testimony generally must be taken in open court with
the witness present, “[f]or good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate
safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from
a different location.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 43(a). Here, the United States cites as good cause Cockrell’s
assignment as a nurse on an oil rig in the Northern Arctic Sea, where she is the only medical
professional. (Doc. No. 379.) Despite her remote location, the United States confirms that Cockrell
has internet access and access to a private room from which to testify. (Id.)
The United States’ motion is GRANTED. No later than 14 days before the trial date, the
United States shall contact the Court’s I.T. department and coordinate the logistics of Cockrell’s
testimony. The United States shall ensure that the safeguards articulated in Gomez v. Metropolitan
Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, are met and shall confirm that fact to
the Court and other counsel by filing a notice no later than three days before trial. No. 3:19-CV-

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00026, 2021 WL 3406687, at *5 (M.D. Tenn. Aug. 4, 2021) (requiring the party offering video
testimony to provide safeguards including “(1) assurance that the witness can be heard and
understood by the jury and the parties; (2) ‘that the witness testify alone, in a closed room, free of
any outside influence on their testimonies’; (3) that Defendant ‘mark all documentary evidence
they intend to provide to the witness prior to trial’; (4) that Plaintiff ‘be allowed a sufficient
opportunity to cross-examine’ the witness; and (5) that Plaintiff be able to question them via
instantaneous transmission.”).
It is so ORDERED.

____________________________________
ALISTAIR E. NEWBERN
United States Magistrate Judge

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