Rule Text
At a party’s request, the court must order witnesses excluded so that they cannot hear other witnesses’ testimony, or the court may do so on its own. This rule does not authorize excluding
A. a party who is a natural person,
B. an officer or employee of a party that is not a natural person, after being designated as the party’s representative by its attorney,
C. a person whose presence a party shows to be essential to presenting the party’s claim or defense, or
D. a person authorized by law to be present.
Amendment history: As amended, effective December 1, 1993; as amended by Supreme Court Order No. 12-8300-015, effective for all cases pending or filed on or after June 16, 2012. Adopted by Supreme Court Order No. 12-8300-015, effective for all cases pending or filed on or after June 16, 2012.
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
If one side asks, the judge has to keep witnesses out of the courtroom so they can't hear each other testify. The judge can also do this on their own, even if nobody asks. The point is to stop witnesses from changing their story based on what they hear other people say.
But this rule doesn't let the judge kick everyone out. Four types of people get to stay no matter what. First, if a party to the case is a real person (not a company), that person can stay in the courtroom for their own case. Second, if the party is a business or organization, one representative picked by their lawyer can stay, even if that person will also testify. Third, anyone who is truly necessary to help present the case can stay, like an expert who needs to hear testimony to do their job. Fourth, anyone the law specifically says can be present gets to stay too.
