Local Rule 79.1: EXHIBITS
D. Mass. — Civil rule
RULE 79.1 EXHIBITS
(a) Custody.
(1) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, all exhibits marked in evidence or for identification shall remain in the custody of the party that introduced them. Exhibits shall be preserved in the form in which they were offered until the proceeding is finally concluded. The party having custody shall make the exhibits available to all parties.
(2) Any party may move the court for custody arrangements that differ from those in subsection (a)(1) upon a showing of good cause. The court may, on its own motion, provide for different custody arrangements or modify existing arrangements at any time.
(3) A court order that the clerk take custody of any exhibit shall specify the period during which the clerk shall maintain custody, the party to whom the exhibit shall be returned at the end of the period, and provision for destruction by the clerk without further notice to the parties at a set time after expiration of the custody period, if the party to whom the exhibit is to be returned fails to remove it from the custody of the clerk. Such court order shall constitute the only notice required for the purpose of exhibit disposal.
(4) It shall be sufficient if orders under the above sections are in writing, signed by the court or the clerk at the direction of the court, or are entered orally on the record and the substance of the order is reproduced on the docket sheet.
(b) Photographs of Chalks. In order to make a record of a chalk, the court may permit a party to photograph it or otherwise copy it, on such terms as are just. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, in jury cases chalks may be destroyed by the clerk as soon as the jury verdict has been recorded; in nonjury cases, chalks may be destroyed as soon as the evidence is closed.
Effective September 1, 1990.