Opinion
20 Cr. 281 (KPF)
12-08-2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SOULEYMANE BALDE, Defendant.
ORDER
KATHERINE POLK FAILLA, DISTRICT JUDGE:
The Southern District of New York has reconfigured courtrooms and other spaces in its courthouses to allow civil jury trials to proceed as safely as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the centralized calendaring system currently in place, the Clerk's Office schedules up to three jury trials to begin on each day of jury selection: a primary case and up to two back-up cases that may proceed in its place if the primary case does not go forward. On June 3, 2021, the Court ordered the trial in this matter to commence on February 14, 2022 (Dkt. #88), and proceeded to request a jury trial for that date.
The Clerk's Office has now notified the Court that this case has been placed on the jury trial list for February 23, 2022. The case must be trial-ready for that date. The case is second on the list for jury trials for that day. This means that the case will not proceed on February 23, 2022, if the primary trial scheduled for that date goes forward. If the case cannot proceed on the scheduled date, the Court will seek another jury trial date for as soon as possible thereafter. As soon as the Court confirms that the matter will proceed on February 23, 2022, it will inform the parties.
The dates contained in the Court's original trial scheduling order are modified as follows. (See Dkt. #88). The parties' Joint Pretrial Order, motions in limine, requests to charge, proposed voir dire questions, and any pretrial memoranda of law (if any) are due January 26, 2022; and any opposition papers to motions in limine are due February 2, 2022. The Court will hold the final pretrial conference on February 9, 2022, at 3:00 p.m., in Courtroom 618 of the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, New York.
SO ORDERED.