Opinion
4:22-cr-343-DPM
07-18-2024
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PLAINTIFF v. CARLOS ALFREDO CARIAS-CABALLERO HRDFR DEFENDANT
ORDER
D.P. Marshall Jr. United States District Judge
1. Motion in Limine. The United States has moved in limine for admission of several documents in Carias-Caballero's "alien-file." Carias-Caballero has not filed a response. The time to do so has passed. The Court of Appeals has held that two categories of these documents, warrants of deportation and certificates of nonexistence of record, are not testimonial evidence and may be admissible under certain hearsay exceptions. United States v. Torres-Villalobos, 487 F.3d 607, 613 (8th Cir. 2007); United States v. Urqhart, 469 F.3d 745, 749 (8th Cir. 2006). At least one other Court of Appeals reached the same holding about verifications of removal. United States v. Lopez, 762 F.3d 852,859-61 (9th Cir. 2014).
The motion in limine, Doc. 42, is granted in part and denied without prejudice in part. The Court's tentative ruling is that the warrants, certificates, and verification will come in if the United States lays the promised foundation that each document falls within a hearsay exception. The Court reserves ruling on the other documents. WeTl address them, if need be, at trial.
2. Schedule. The Court will hold a pretrial conference at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 30 July 2024. We will begin with the venire at 9:30 a.m. We will pick the jury, do opening instructions, open, and start with the proof on Tuesday.
3. Jury Instructions. The Court is attaching its current working drafts of (1) the voir dire, (2) the preliminary instructions, and (3) the final instructions, which include the verdict form. Objections and suggestions due by July 24th.
4. Witnesses and Exhibits. The parties must submit their lists of potential witnesses and exhibits to chambers by close of business on July 24th. A binder with courtesy copies of exhibits should be submitted to chambers, too. Please use the Court's forms for both exhibit and witness lists. If the parties plan to use electronic exhibits, they should have paper copies available as a fall-back.
5. Voir Dire. The Court will conduct the basic questioning, with extended follow-up by each side -up to thirty minutes. (This is a change from my usual drill.) Please focus your questioning. Voir dire is not a time to explain the law or the burden of proof, to explain what the case is about, to seek commitments, or to pump the potential jurors full of fairness. Instead, please ask lean questions about potential jurors' experiences and views to ferret out bias. If the parties would prefer to have the Court ask certain questions, please submit them to chambers for consideration by July 24th.
6. Openings and Closings. Fifteen minutes a side for opening. Twenty minutes a side for closing.
7. Objections. Avoid speaking objections during the trial. A word or two will do. If the Court needs to hear more, then the Court will call counsel forward for a bench or hall conference.
So Ordered.