All parties must attend criminal final pretrial conference. Court routinely becomes involved in settlement negotiations in jury cases or if parties request. Trials Court uses standby docket, oldest to newest. Adjournments given for good cause prior to trial date. Court does not use benchbook.
Court requires proposed findings and can be amended at close of trial to conform to evidence.
Court conducts voir dire with participation from counsel. Specific voir dire requests are considered. Plaintiff may prepare jury instructions on disk in WordPerfect format and hard copy prior to closing arguments. Jury charged after final argument. Jury can take instructions into deliberations and may take notes.