Opinion
3:22-cr-00039-ART-CLB
11-10-2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff, v. CODY TWITCHELL, Defendant.
JUDGE ANNE R. TRAUM ORDER REGARDING TRIAL
ANNE R. TRAUM UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
1. Trial. This case is scheduled for trial before the Honorable Anne R. Traum, United States District Judge, at Reno, Nevada, on the trial stack commencing on January 10, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. This is a two-week stack.
2. Courtroom Administrator. The Courtroom Administrator for Judge Traum's chambers is Katie Sutherland. All documents referenced in this Order shall be emailed to Katie Sutherland at KatieSutherland@nvd.uscourts.gov.
3. Calendar Call.
a. Coun1sel for all parties and all pro se parties must appear by Zoom on January 3, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. for Calendar Call.
b. Unless a defendant is appearing pro se, defendants will not be required to appear for Calendar Call unless the Court directs otherwise.
c. Counsel or pro se defendants will be excused from Calendar Call if, prior to the scheduled calendar call, a defendant's plea of guilty or nolo contendere has been accepted.
d. At the Calendar Call, all cases that remain to be tried will be ranked in order of priority with criminal cases taking priority over civil cases. Thereafter, unless the Court otherwise directs, the cases will be tried one after the other on 24 hours' notice from the Clerk.
e. After the Calendar Call, the Court will not grant a continuance to any party absent a showing of good cause.
4. Motions in Limine.
a. Motions in Limine must be filed as one consolidated motion, as opposed to numerous separate motions. Motions in Limine must be filed by December 13, 2022, which is 28 days before trial.
b. Motions filed after this established deadline will be considered only upon a showing of good cause.
c. Counsel are required to meet and confer on the issues raised in the Motion in Limine before filing the motion and must include a statement certifying compliance with this personal consultation requirement. LR 16-3(a).
d. Responses to Motions in Limine are due on December 20, 2022, which is 7 days after the motion deadline.
5. Status Hearings.
a. The Court may conduct a status conference prior to the scheduled Calendar Call.
b. Any party who wishes to request a pretrial status conference must notify the Courtroom Administrator no later than two weeks before Calendar Call.
c. If the Court is satisfied during the status conference that the case is ready for trial, the Court may vacate the Calendar Call.
6. Witnesses.
a. Counsel and pro se defendants must subpoena all witnesses for the time and trial date as listed above. Inasmuch as the cases will be tried in a trailing fashion, the subpoenas should contain a special instruction from counsel directing witnesses to contact counsel's office-not the Court-for further instructions prior to appearing for trial.
b. Witnesses are not required to be present at the Calendar Call but must appear as subpoenaed.
c. The government must provide a list of proposed case-in chief witnesses to the court and the defense no later than December 20, 2022, which is 21 days before trial. Witness lists should reflect the anticipated order of witnesses.
7. Exhibits.
a. Unless a specific scheduling order has been adopted for the case, the government shall provide to defense its case-in-chief exhibits on December 20, 2022, which is 21 days before trial.
b. By December 23, 2022, the defense should provide its non-duplicative case-in-chief exhibits to the government.
c. The parties shall file their list of case-in-chief exhibits on January 3, 2023, which is 7 days before trial. The parties should make efforts to not duplicate exhibits. The government must use numerals 1 through 499 to number its exhibits, and defense must use numerals 500 through 999.
d. The Court uses the Jury Electronic Recording System (“JERS”). The parties must provide the Courtroom Administrator with electronic media (e.g., CD, thumb drive, or hard drive) that contain images of all the exhibits counsel intend to use, in a format specified by the memorandum attached to this order.
e. The parties must also provide the Courtroom Administrator with exhibit lists in Microsoft Word file format.
f. The parties must each provide two sets of physical binders of their exhibits on the day of trial: one set for the witness stand, and the other for Judge Traum.
8. Evidence Display Equipment.
a. Counsel may use the Court's evidence display equipment or their own display equipment.
b. Counsel must contact the Courtroom Administrator if they wish to use evidence display equipment, either to reserve the Court's equipment and practice using it or to arrange a time and date to set up counsel's equipment before trial.
9. Jury Instructions.
a. On or before December 27, 2022, which is 14 days before trial, the government shall file its proposed jury instructions and verdict form.
b. The defense may file any proposed alternative or supplemental instructions and verdict form no later than January 3, 2023, which is 7 days before trial.
c. For disputed instructions, the party disputing the instruction shall provide a brief argument for each disputed instruction.
d. The government may file any supplemental instructions based on the defense filing no later than January 6, 2023, which is the Friday before trial.
e. The parties shall make reasonable efforts to avoid duplication. Each party has the right to propose additional or modified instructions during the course of the trial. All jury instructions must include supporting authority. Any modifications of the Ninth Circuit Manual of Model Jury Instructions, or any other model instructions, must specifically state the modification made to the original source with the authority and argument supporting the modification.
f. If the defense provides before trial an anticipated theory of defense instruction, that document may be filed ex parte and under seal and will be unsealed and served upon the government at the close of evidence, before jury instructions are finalized.
g. Counsel must provide a copy of any proposed jury instruction in Microsoft Word file format to chambers by email to the Courtroom Administrator.
10. Voir Dire.
a. On January 3, 2023, which is 7 days before trial, counsel or defendants appearing pro se must file all suggested voir dire questions to be asked of the jury panel by the Court and a list of
voir dire questions that counsel intends to ask during attorney-conducted voir dire.
b. Counsel must provide a copy of the same in Microsoft Word format to chambers by email to the Courtroom Administrator.
c. The initial voir dire examination is done by the Court, using the Court's general voir dire questions and may include the suggested voir dire questions provided by counsel. The Court will briefly describe the case to the panel, ask counsel to introduce themselves and any clients present in court, and ask counsel to read the lists of witnesses to be called. If counsel cannot provide a list of their prospective witnesses to the jury before trial, counsel may request an ex parte hearing.
d. The Court will use questions to screen for hardship, familiarity with the case, and witnesses, and for the purpose of discovering any basis for challenge for cause and for the purpose of gaining knowledge to enable an intelligent exercise of peremptory challenges. The questions will be asked of the entire panel, and any juror whose answer would be “yes” or “probably yes” is asked to raise their hand. The Court and lawyers may make note of that juror's number for possible follow up questions. The Court will share its voir dire topics on the morning of trial so that counsel can see which questions are included in the Court's voir dire.
e. When the Court has finished asking questions of the entire panel, the Court will provide an opportunity for voir dire by the lawyers. A voir dire examination may include general and specific questioning of jurors and shall be conducted for the purpose of discovering any basis for challenge for cause and for
the purpose of gaining knowledge to enable an intelligent exercise of peremptory challenges. Counsel for each side may ask questions of the entire panel, or individual jurors, or both. Each party is limited to 20 minutes.
11. Statement of the Case.
a. On January 3, 2023, which is 7 days before trial, counsel or parties appearing pro se must jointly file with the Clerk of the Court a brief joint statement of the case, no longer than one-half page, to be read to prospective jurors at the time of jury selection. Counsel must provide a copy of the same in Microsoft Word format to chambers by email to the Courtroom Administrator.
b. If the parties cannot agree on a joint statement, they must file separate statements of the Indictment, indicating which portions should be read to the jury, to satisfy this requirement.
12. Government's Trial Memorandum.
a. The government must submit its Trial Memorandum under seal on January 3, 2023, which is 7 days before trial, and must also provide a copy (marked confidential) to the Courtroom Administrator.
b. The Government's Trial Memorandum must be served on counsel for the defendant on the date trial commences and will be unsealed and filed by the Court at that time.
13. Trial Schedule.
a. Trial will generally begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. However, parties should plan to be available between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. and after 4:30p.m. each day of trial to address matters outside the presence of the jury.
b. This standard trial schedule may be modified for good cause; however, requests should be submitted at Calendar Call or before the written trial schedule is issued to jurors.
14. Trial Judge. Although the cases that are on the trial stack are assigned to Judge Traum, the cases may proceed to trial before another Nevada district judge or a visiting district judge.
15. Unconscious Bias.
a. The Court will direct the Jury Administrator to show the Unconscious Bias Juror Video developed by the Western District of Washington to prospective jurors as part of their orientation before jury selection.
b. Counsel may view the Western District of Washington's unconscious bias video at: https://www.wawd.uscourts.gov/jury/unconscious-bias.
16. Juror Names.
a. Juror names will be furnished to counsel for the parties on the Thursday before trial.
b. Names of prospective jurors will be disclosed to the public or media only upon order of the court.
c. A request for disclosure of prospective juror names must be made in writing and styled as a motion to the presiding judge.
17. Expedited or Daily Transcripts.
a. Any party that will require expedited or daily transcripts shall notify Donna Prather, Court Reporter via email at DonnaPrather@nvd.uscourts.gov immediately upon receipt of this order.
b. The court reporter will provide instructions with respect to expedited or daily transcripts. Failure to timely notify the court
reporter may result in an inability to provide expedited or daily transcripts.
18. Contact Person. All questions and information regarding the trial Calendar are to be directed to Katie Sutherland, Courtroom Administrator.