Opinion ID: 735718
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Limitations imposed on closing arguments

Text: 17 The district court allowed each side 75 minutes for closing argument. The district court was well within its discretion in imposing this limitation on each side. 18 During argument, Meenach's counsel tried to use placards with replicas of parts of the trial transcript. The court allowed the placards but told counsel that he must paraphrase, rather than read, the transcript. Later, GMC objected to one of the placards because it did not include the proper context for some quotations. The court sustained the objection, instructing Meenach's counsel to remove the placard and to just do it the way we normally do it, paraphrase the testimony. Meenach argues that these restrictions were unfair. The court's restrictions were well within its exercise of reasonable control under Rule 611(a) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. We find no error in any of the limitations imposed by the court on closing arguments.