Local Rule L. Cr. R. 53-1: Special Orders

N.D. Ind. L. Cr. R. 53-1 Special Orders

(a) Orders to Preserve Decorum and Maintain Integrity. The court may, on its own motion or a party's motion, issue special orders to preserve decorum and maintain the integrity of trials. These special orders may regulate such matters as the court deems appropriate, including:

(1) extrajudicial statements by trial participants (including lawyers and their staff, parties, witnesses, and jurors) that are likely to interfere with a party's right to a fair trial;

(2) clearing the courthouse's entrances and hallways so that witnesses and jurors cannot mingle with or be in close proximity to reporters, photographers, parties, lawyers, and others during recesses in the trial or as the jurors enter and exit the courtroom and courthouse;

(3) the seating and courtroom conduct of parties, attorneys (including their staff), spectators, and news-media representatives;

(4) maintaining the confidentiality of the jurors' names and addresses (unless a statute requires disclosure);

(5) forbidding anyone from photographing or sketching jurors within the courthouse;

(6) jury sequestration (but the identity of any party requesting sequestration must not be disclosed);

(7) forbidding jurors from reading, listening to, or watching news reports about the case;

(8) forbidding jurors from discussing the case with anyone during the trial and from communicating with others in any manner during their deliberations; and

(9) insulating witnesses from news interviews during trial.

(b) Preliminary Criminal Proceedings. Ordinarily, preliminary proceedings (including preliminary examinations and hearings on pretrial motions) must be held in open court, with the public permitted to attend and observe. But the court may close preliminary proceedings if:

(1) the law allows it; and

(2) the court cites for the record the specific findings that make doing so necessary.