Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_06-cv-05405/USCOURTS-cand-5_06-cv-05405-4/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Civil Rights Act

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN JOSE DIVISION

Amir Rahama,

Plaintiff,

 v.

Matthew Archer, et al.,

Defendants.

 /

No. C 06-05405 JW 

PRELIMINARY PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 

SCHEDULING ORDER - (JURY TRIAL);

ORDER REFERRING TO JUDGE

SEEBORG FOR A SETTLEMENT

CONFERENCE

On June 16, 2008, the Court conducted a Preliminary Pretrial Conference. The Court orders

the parties to comply with the following:

(1) The parties expressed an interest in a further settlement conference and requested a

referral to Judge Seeborg. The Court finds that the parties would benefit from a

further settlement conference; accordingly, the Court refers the parties to Judge

Seeborg. The parties shall contact Judge Seeborg’s Chambers within thirty (30) days

from the date of this Order to schedule a conference.

(2) TRIAL SCHEDULE:

Final Pretrial Conference (¶4 ) January 5, 2009 at 3 p.m.

Joint Pretrial Conference Statement, In Limine

Motions, and Proposed Jury Instructions Due

(30 days before Final Pretrial Conference)

December 6, 2008

Jury Selection January 13, 2009 at 9 a.m.

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Jury trials are held in afternoon sessions from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, Tuesdays through

Fridays unless the Court otherwise specifies. At the Final Pretrial Conference, the Court reserves

the right to fold the last few afternoon sessions into morning sessions (9:00am - 12:00pm) thus

creating full days for trial. The final trial schedule will be confirmed at the Final Pretrial

Conference. 

2

Jury Trial Date and Sessions1 Sessions 1-3: January 14 - 16, 2009

Sessions 4-7: January 20 - 23, 2009

Meet and Confer Requirement

1. No later than 30 days prior to the Final Pretrial Conference, the parties shall meet and

confer with respect to the Joint Pretrial Conference Statement, submission of a joint list of witnesses,

a joint list of trial exhibits and a joint list of discovery material which each party intends to offer in

evidence as a part of its case-in-chief. Unless objections are made in accord with this Order, all

witnesses, exhibits and discovery material contained on the joint submission shall be deemed

admissible into evidence by stipulation.

Objections and Lodging Disputed Material with the Court

2. If a party objects to receipt into evidence of a witness, exhibits or discovery response,

the party shall advise all opposing parties during the conference described in Paragraph 1, and

attempt to resolve the dispute. If the parties are unsuccessful in resolving the dispute, any party

wishing to object to receipt of the testimony of any witness, any exhibit or discovery response into

evidence shall lodge with Chambers a copy of the disputed material at the commencement of trial. 

Attached to the submission shall be a brief statement of the objection and any response by the

proffering party. The Court will indicate on the submitted copy whether the objection is overruled

or sustained and return the material to counsel.

Lodging Joint Pretrial Conference Statement, In Limine Motions 

and Proposed Jury Instructions

3. Pursuant to the date set forth in the Case Schedule, the parties shall file and lodge

with Chambers the following:

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a. Joint Pretrial Conference Statement: The parties shall file a joint pretrial

statement which shall contain the following information: (1) a brief

description of the substance of claims and defenses which remain to be

decided; (2) a detailed statement of all the relief claimed, particularly

itemizing all elements of damages claimed as well as witnesses, documents or

other evidentiary material to be presented concerning the amount of those

damages; (3) a plain and concise statement of all relevant facts not reasonably

disputable, as well as which facts the parties will stipulate for incorporation

into the trial record without the necessity of supporting testimony or exhibits;

(4) a plain and concise statement of all disputed factual issues which remain

to be decided; (5) a statement assessing whether all or part of the action may

be presented upon an agreed statement of facts; (6) a statement of stipulations

requested or proposed for pretrial or trial purposes; (7) without extended legal

argument, a concise statement of each disputed point of law concerning

liability or relief, citing supporting statutes and decisions; (8) a list of all

witnesses likely to be called at trial; (9) a list of evidence the parties intend to

present at trial through use of excerpts from depositions, from interrogatory

answers, or from responses to requests for admission; and (10) any other

subjects relevant to the trial of the action, or material to its just, speedy and

inexpensive determination. Counsel are directed to meet and confer in

advance of the date for submission of pretrial material with respect to the

pretrial conference statement.

b. In Limine Motions: Any In limine motions shall be filed in writing and

submitted along with the Joint Final Pretrial Conference Statement. Any

opposition shall be filed in writing and served no later than fifteen (15) days

before the Final Pretrial Conference. Five (5) days before the date of the

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Final Pretrial Conference, the parties shall organize their in limine motions as

follows:

(1) Each side shall be responsible for producing a combined folder with

all of their in limine motions, oppositions to their motions (if any), and

replies (if any), respectively. The motion papers shall be clearly

marked and separated in one single binder. The binder shall contain a

table of contents, listing each motion with a short sentence regarding

the grounds for in limine and a short sentence regarding the

opposition; all statements must be supported by proper citations to the

motions. The table of contents shall also be saved on a 31⁄2 floppy

disk in MS Word or WordPerfect format to be attached inside the

binder. 

(2) Please note that this binder is not a substitute for filing the motions

and related papers via ECF; it is designed for the Court to evaluate the

motions.

Two copies of the binder shall be delivered to the Court (by way of the

Clerk’s Office) no later than five (5) days before the date of the

Final Pretrial Conference by 4 PM. The parties must also bring the

binder to the Final Pretrial Conference for their own references.

(3) These motions will be deemed submitted without oral argument,

unless the Court orders otherwise.

c. Proposed Jury Instructions: The parties shall filed their Proposed Jury

Instructions thirty (30) days before the date of the Final Pretrial Conference. 

The parties shall bring to the Final Pretrial Conference their Proposed

Jury Instructions on a 31⁄2 floppy disk in MS Word or WordPerfect

format.

Final Pretrial Conference

4. The Court will conduct a Final Pretrial Conference on the date set forth in the Case

Schedule. The trial attorneys must attend the conference. At the final pretrial conference, the Court

will consider issues raised in the Final Pretrial Conference Statement, motions in limine and discuss

the procedures for trial of the case.

Lodging Witness Lists and Exhibit Lists

5. At the Final Pretrial Conference, the parties shall lodge with Chambers the joint list

of witnesses, and a joint list of exhibits. Unless otherwise ordered, all exhibits shall be in a format

compatible with either the video or digital evidence presentation system utilized by the Court. The

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proffering party shall retain custody of all exhibits, schedules, summaries, diagrams or charts to be

used at the trial. 

6. To accommodate consideration of electronic exhibits, as the trial progresses, the

parties will load images of the admitted exhibits onto a stand alone hard drive or CD or DVD in

“pdf” format. The parties shall ensure that, apart from whatever technical material is necessary to

operate the system, the CD, DVD or hard drive contains only the items specified in this order and

nothing else. The images will be placed in a folder labeled “Admitted Exhibits” that shall contain

all trial exhibits received into evidence. In addition to the exhibits, themselves, the folder shall

contain a file labeled “List of Admitted Exhibits by Exhibit Number.” The “List” shall list in

numerical order by Trial Exhibit Number, each admitted exhibit, along with the date of the

document (where available), and a brief description of the exhibit. To the extend practicable, the

“List” shall be text searchable and hyperlinked to the Exhibits, themselves. The folder shall contain

a second filed labeled “List of Admitted Exhibits by Date.” This second “List” shall contain the

same information, except that the exhibits will be listed in chronological order, according to the date

the document was prepared. The external stand alone hard drive or CD or DVD and a printed copy

of the exhibit lists will be marked as exhibits and placed in evidence as demonstrative exhibits. 

7. Before the case is submitted for decision, each party will be deemed to have had an

opportunity to review the material described in the previous paragraph to ensure their accuracy. 

Unless a party objects before the case is submitted for decision to the judge or jury, the party will be

deemed to have waived any and all objections to the submitted materials.

8. To accommodate review of electronic exhibits, the parties will jointly provide the

jury with the following equipment: a laptop computer, the external stand alone hard drive, CD or

DVD, a printer (and, if practicable, an LCD projector).

9. During its closing instructions, the Court will advise the jury of the form in which

exhibits will be submitted to them. The jury will also be instructed that, unless impracticable, upon

a juror’s written request, a printed copy of any exhibit received in evidence will be provided to the

jury. Before the jury retires to deliberate, the parties will provide a tutorial to the jurors on how to

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operate the equipment, how to view the exhibits, and how to print the exhibits if the jury wishes to

do so. A written set of instructions on operations of the equipment will be sent into the jury room.

10. When the jury is deliberating, at least one lawyer for each side shall remain in close

proximity to the courtroom. In the event of any technical problem, or if the jurors have questions

about how to operate the equipment, the jurors shall pass a note to the clerk, just as with any other

questions they may have. The Court will read the note to the lawyers. Those lawyers shall consult

with each other and with their respective technicians, and propose to the Court how they wish to

address the technical problem. 

11. The parties shall maintain a backup laptop computer and a backup hard drive with

identical images and data at the courthouse such that, in the event of a technical problem that cannot

be quickly and easily remedied, the equipment can be replaced.

12. Unless the Court orders otherwise for good cause shown, the expense of the

equipment and the costs of preparation of the Lists and Exhibits will be shared equally among the

parties. 

13. This Standing Order also applies to cases tried to the Court sitting without a jury,

except that paragraphs 8-11 do not apply. 

14. The parties are ordered to meet and confer in advance of trial to establish a procedure

for complying with this Order with respect to electronic exhibits.

15. Upon request, in non-complex cases the Court will excuse the parties from using

electronic formatted documents. In that event on the first day of trial, the parties shall submit

exhibits as follows:

a. A copy for the trial judge;

b. A copy for the witness stand. Although the Court’s copy of exhibits shall be

in a single binder, the Court prefers the parties to prepare a binder for each

witness, which contains only those documents pertinent to that witness.

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c. No duplicates of a document shall be submitted, unless the duplicate copy has

independent evidentiary value to prove some disputed issue of material fact

(e.g., date stamp to prove receipt on a particular date, where date of receipt is

a disputed issue of a material fact). 

Jury Trial Schedule

16. The time allowed for trial shall be divided equally between the plaintiff’s side and the

defendant’s side. Co-parties are ordered to meet, confer and agree to an allocation among

themselves. A party may spend its allocated time presenting its own case or on cross-examination of

witnesses called by other parties or for presentation of a counterclaim. When a party's allocated time

period has expired, unless otherwise ordered for good cause shown, no further time will be allowed

to that party if it would interfere with the ability of the opposing party to present its case.

Trial Procedure

17. In opening statements, counsel shall not express personal knowledge or opinion

concerning any matter in issue.

18. Counsel must question witnesses from the podium, using the microphone. Without

requesting permission, counsel may approach witnesses for any proper purposes.

19. Address all remarks to the Court, not to opposing counsel.

20. Refer to all persons, including witnesses, other counsel and the parties by their

surnames and not by their first or given names.

21. In examining a witness, counsel shall not repeat or echo the answer given by the

witness.

22. Counsel must stand when making an objection. 

23. Conferences at the bench or sidebar are not favored by the Court. Any sidebar

conferences which are allowed will be off the record. If any counsel wishes to place matters on the

record, he or she may so request, and the Court will make a responsive order.

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24. Counsel have full responsibility to arrange for the appearance of witnesses during the

presentation of their case so as to eliminate delay caused by waiting for witnesses who have been

placed on call by counsel.

25. Unless an agreement to the contrary is entered into by opposing counsel, all nonparty

or nonexpert witnesses will be excluded from the courtroom when not testifying. When a witness

has completed his or her testimony, the witness is excused unless counsel indicates that he or she

wishes the witness to remain subject to being recalled. Any witness who has been excused from

further testimony may remain as a spectator. It will be the responsibility of counsel to make an

announcement at the time the witness steps down that he or she should remain in the environs of the

Court for a reasonable time to permit such counsel an opportunity to secure and serve a subpoena

upon the witness and assume responsibility for his or her per diem and other expenses as provided

by governing rule or statute.

26. Counsel shall admonish all persons at counsel table that gestures, facial expressions,

audible comments, or the like, as manifestations of approval or disapproval during the testimony of

witnesses, or at any other time, are prohibited.

27. Witness examination shall consist of direct examination, cross-examination and redirect examination. No recross-examination will be allowed without prior approval of the Court

specifically indicating the area for recross-examination. When there are multiple defense counsel,

they are directed to confer and designate to the Court the sequence in which they wish to be

recognized during trial for purposes of presenting opening statements and conducting crossexamination of witnesses. If one counsel conducts the direct examination of a witness, that same

counsel must make objections when the witness is cross-examined. Counsel who will conduct the

cross-examination should object while the witness is on direct.

28. After the commencement of trial testimony, upon request of co-parties, any objection,

motion or other application for relief made by any co-party, orally or in writing, shall be deemed to

be adopted and joined in by every other co-party, without announcement by counsel to that effect,

and the rulings of the Court shall be deemed applicable to each party unless otherwise stated at the

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time the ruling is made. Accordingly, it shall be regarded as unnecessary and improper for counsel

to rise to "join in" an objection or motion. Rather, counsel should rise to be heard only for the

purpose of expressly opting out of an objection or motion if that is his or her position.

29. Counsel are directed to deliver to opposing counsel at the end of each trial day (if not

earlier) a list of witnesses counsel anticipates calling the next trial day.

30. Counsel calling a non-client witness to testify should have no further discussions with

that witness concerning the case or any aspect of his or her testimony after the witness has been

tendered for cross-examination and until such time as the witness has been tendered back for redirect

examination. At all other times, within the bounds of governing ethics and the law, counsel may

engage in discussions with witnesses during trial.

31. Any time taken away from presentation of evidence to the trier of fact due to, for

example, lengthy legal motions made during the time allocated to the presentation of evidence, or

delays in the commencement of proceedings due to circumstances within the control of counsel, will

be deducted from the time allocated for the presentation of evidence. Upon timely application based

upon good cause, the Court may relieve a party of its stipulation to the agreed schedule.

32. It is the practice of the Court periodically to inform counsel of the Court's record of

how much time each side has remaining for the presentation of evidence based upon the stipulated

trial schedule.

Daily Trial Transcript

33. Any counsel desiring daily or expedited transcripts during trial should make

immediate arrangements with the court reporter and should inform the Court and other counsel of

such intentions.

Dated: June 24, 2008 

JAMES WARE

United States District Judge

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THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT COPIES OF THIS ORDER HAVE BEEN DELIVERED TO:

Anthony Boskovich policemisconduct@compuserve.com

Nkia Desiree Richardson cao.main@sanjoseca.gov

Robert Baker Burchfiel CAO.Main@sanjoseca.gov

Dated: June 24, 2008 Richard W. Wieking, Clerk

By: /s/ JW Chambers 

Elizabeth Garcia

Courtroom Deputy

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