Local Rule LR Cv 39: OPENING STATEMENTS; USE OF RECORDED TESTIMONY; TIME LIMITS

LR Cv 39 OPENING STATEMENTS; USE OF RECORDED TESTIMONY; TIME LIMITS

(a) Opening Statements. An opening statement shall not be argumentative and shall not exceed 30 minutes unless otherwise permitted by the Court. Counsel for a defendant may make an opening statement either after the opening statement of the plaintiff or after the plaintiff has rested. Counsel for a defendant may not make an opening statement after the plaintiff has rested unless evidence will be presented on behalf of that defendant.

(b) Recorded Conversations or Testimony.

(1) At least 14 days prior to empanelment, counsel for any party that proposes to offer a recorded conversation or any portion thereof as evidence shall furnish the Court and counsel with:

(A) a chronologically arranged list showing the date of, participants in, and approximate playing time of each such recording; and

(B) a transcript of each such conversation.

(2) Before offering any recorded conversation, counsel shall edit out footage that contains no audible discussion or contains irrelevant material so that the jury will not be required to listen for protracted periods of time to portions of recordings that provide little or no assistance in determining the pertinent facts. In order to achieve that objective, counsel shall meet and confer, in advance, in an effort to resolve any disputes with respect to editing.

(3) Within 7 days after such transcripts have been furnished or such other period of time as the Court may allow, counsel for any party disputing the audibility, completeness, or admissibility of any such recording or the accuracy of such transcript shall file an objection identifying the recording and/or transcript or the particular portion to which objection is being made as well as the nature of and grounds for the objection. In the case of an objection that any portion of a recorded conversation has been omitted, the party making such objection shall set forth the omitted portion(s) of the recording(s) together with a statement explaining why the omitted portion(s) should be included.

(4) Any objections to the accuracy or completeness of transcripts shall be accompanied by copies of the transcripts objected to on which proposed deletions and corrections are noted.

(5) Any dispute regarding editing and/or the accuracy of transcripts shall be called to the Court's attention promptly.

(6) Failure to comply with the provisions of this subsection (b) may be considered by the Court as a waiver by the proponent of the right to offer the recorded conversation(s) at issue; or, alternatively, as a waiver of the right to object to admission of the recorded conversation(s) and/or to dispute the accuracy or completeness of the transcript, as the case may be.

(c) Time Limits.

(1) The Court, in its discretion, may limit the time for any trial, hearing, or other proceeding, for any argument, or for the examination of any witness or completing the examination of any witness in such manner and upon such terms as may be just under the circumstances.

(2) Upon request by a party, the Court, in its discretion, may extend any time limits established pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this Rule. In determining whether to extend such time limits, the Court may consider:

(A) whether the party has adequately explained the purposes for which the additional time would be used and why the additional evidence or argument to be presented is essential to fairly decide the matter;

(B) whether the party has effectively and efficiently made full use of the time allocated to that party; and

(C) any other matters that may be relevant.

Effective 12/1/11: The numerical references in this rule were altered as part of the restyling of numerical references throughout the Local Rules. Effective 12/1/09: §(b)(1) amended.

CROSS-REFERENCES See LR Cr 23 (Opening Statements; Use of Recorded Testimony; Time Limits in criminal cases).