UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
STANDING ORDER FOR CRIMINAL CASES BEFORE JUDGE RITA F. LIN
SUMMARY TABLE OF DEADLINES
DEADLINE DATE
Change of Plea – Copy of Plea Agreement By 12 p.m. 2 Court Days Before Entry of
Plea
Obtain Box.com link from courtroom deputy 21 Days Before Pretrial Conference
for uploading pretrial filings
Objections to Standard Jury Questionnaire 21 Days Before Pretrial Conference
Discovery Cut-Off (Absent Contrary Order) 14 Days Before Pretrial Conference
Pretrial Statement, Motions in Limine 14 Days Before Pretrial Conference
Jury Instructions, Verdict Form, Proposed 7 Days Before Pretrial Conference
Description of the Case, Exhibit Lists,
Witness Lists, Individuals Involved List
Notification of Need for Interpreter for Trial 30 Days Before Trial
Arrangement of Daily Transcript or RealTime 14 Days Before Trial
Reporting
Contact Courtroom Deputy Regarding 10 Days Before Trial
Courtroom Layout and Technology
Deliver Original and Copy Trial Exhibit Sets, 5 Days Before Trial
List of Names, Places, Uncommon Terms and
Acronyms
The parties shall follow the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Criminal Local
Rules, and the General Orders of the Northern District of California, except as superseded by this
Court’s standing order.
REQUESTS TO CONTINUE STATUS CONFERENCES
If the parties wish to request a continuance of a status conference by written stipulation,
the parties shall file a stipulation to that effect before the scheduled date. The stipulation shall
state whether defense counsel has communicated with the defendant, and if so, whether the
defendant is in agreement with the continuance and any requested exclusion of time under the
Speedy Trial Act. The stipulation shall also provide an update on the status of the case and
discovery. If the parties are requesting an exclusion of time under the Speedy Trial Act, the
stipulation must set forth specific facts justifying the exclusion. Conclusory statements that the
exclusion is needed for effective preparation of counsel, for example, are insufficient.
CHANGE OF PLEA
If a plea is being entered pursuant to a plea agreement, counsel for the defendant shall
email a copy of the plea agreement to
[email protected] no later than noon two court
days before the plea is to be entered. Normally, that would be Tuesday at noon.
If the defendant is entering an open plea, the defendant and defense counsel shall
complete the Application to Enter Guilty Plea & Order form on the Criminal Forms portion of
the Court’s website, and present the government with a copy of the completed application for
review prior to providing the application to the Court at or before the change of plea hearing.
PRETRIAL FILINGS AND DEADLINES
Discovery Cut-Off
Absent a contrary order from the Court, the discovery cut-off date is 14 days before the
pretrial conference. Any material disclosed after that date may be excluded unless the disclosing
party: (i) can show good cause for why it was not sought, obtained, and disclosed sooner; and
(ii) discloses it within 24 hours of receipt of the material.
Box.com Link for Pretrial Filings
Instead of requiring paper binders of courtesy copies from the parties, Judge Lin uses an
electronic binder to organize pretrial filings. Counsel shall contact Judge Lin’s Courtroom
Deputy 21 days prior to the final pretrial conference to request a secure Box.com link to upload
documents for the electronic binder. Counsel’s email should identify the case number and the
trial date. All pretrial filings shall be uploaded to that link. The uploaded documents should
contain the ECF version of each attachment, with its ECF header. The name of each PDF file
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should include the type of document, a brief description of the document, and the docket number.
For example, a news release (docket number 61-2) filed as the first exhibit to a declaration
(docket number 61-1), would be, “[61-2] Decl Doe Ex 1 - News Release.”
Objections to Standard Jury Questionnaire
In advance of the trial, the Jury Office will send prospective jurors an online
questionnaire. A copy of the standard Criminal Prospective Juror Questionnaire is available on
the Court’s website. Judge Lin will also add a question asking about scheduling conflicts. No
later than 21 days before the pretrial conference, the parties should submit objections to any
aspect of the standard questionnaire.
Pretrial Statement
No later than 14 days before the pretrial conference, the parties must file a joint pretrial
statement that addresses the items listed in Criminal Local Rule 17.1-1(b).
Motions in Limine
Any motions in limine must be filed no later than 14 days before the pretrial conference.
Oppositions must be filed at least 7 days before the pretrial conference. No reply papers will be
considered.
Jury Instructions
The parties should file joint proposed jury instructions, and send a copy in Word format
to
[email protected], no later than 7 days before the pretrial conference. The parties
should indicate the relevant authority for a proposed instruction. The parties should almost
always use the Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions and, if a modification is proposed, should
clearly identify any changes to the model instructions via highlighting or redline.
Instructions on which the parties agree must be identified as “Stipulated Jury Instruction
No. __ Re _____,” with the blanks filled in as appropriate.
If the parties disagree on an instruction, each party’s proposed version of the disputed
instruction shall be provided and identified as “Disputed Instruction No. ____ Re ____________
Offered by _________________,” with the blanks filled in as appropriate. All proposed versions
of the same instruction shall bear the same number. Following each set of proposed versions of a
disputed instruction, each party shall explain, in no more than one page, why the Court should
give that party’s proposed instruction.
If the parties dispute whether a particular instruction should be given at all, the proponent
of the instruction shall provide proposed language, identified as “Disputed Instruction No. ____
Re ____________ Offered by _________________,” with the blanks filled in as appropriate.
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Following the disputed instruction, each party shall explain, in no more than one page, why the
instruction should or should not be given.
The proposed jury instructions should not mention the indictment or the United States
Code unless there’s a compelling reason to do so. The instructions can simply refer to the
defendant as having been charged in “Count One” with X, in “Count Two” with Y, and so forth.
Statement of Objection to Unconscious Bias Video
Prospective jurors will be shown a video on unconscious bias in the jury office. The
video can be found on the Court’s website. If a party objects to prospective jurors’ viewing this
video, the party must file a short statement (not to exceed one page double-spaced) explaining its
objection. The party should then alert the Court to its objection at the pretrial conference.
Proposed Description of the Case
No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, the parties should jointly file, and
send in Word format to
[email protected], a proposed description of the case. The
description will be read orally to prospective jurors when they come to the courtroom. If the
parties can’t agree on a description, they may file one document with competing descriptions (but
without any argument). Again, the description of the case should not refer to the indictment or to
the United States Code unless there’s a compelling reason to do so.
Verdict Forms
No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, the parties must jointly file, and send
in Word format to
[email protected], either an agreed-upon proposed verdict form or
competing proposed verdict forms.
Exhibit Lists
No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, each party must file, and send in Word
format to
[email protected], a list of exhibits. They need not submit the exhibits
themselves at this time, unless instructed otherwise by Judge Lin.
Witness Lists
No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, the parties must file, and send in Word
format to
[email protected], lists of potential witnesses reasonably anticipated to be
called at trial.
Involved Individual Lists
No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, the parties must jointly file, and send
in Word format to
[email protected], a list of people involved in the case. The list should
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include counsel, the defendant or defendants, potential witnesses, and any other people
significantly involved in the case.
PRETRIAL CONFERENCE
At the pretrial conference, the parties should be prepared to address motions in limine,
jury instructions, the written questionnaire, proposed voir dire, the verdict form, and any issues
relating to exhibits or evidence. If either party believes that a dispute about jury instructions
must be resolved before opening statements, it must be raised when the proposed jury
instructions are filed and at the pretrial conference. Otherwise, the Court will typically discuss
jury instructions with the parties during trial.
TRIAL EXHIBITS
No later than 5 days before trial, each side shall upload the exhibits electronically to
Judge Lin’s chambers’ Box.com storage. Each exhibit shall be a separate file, with each file
named so that the exhibits appear sequentially when sorted by file name. The parties should
discuss with Judge Lin and the Courtroom Deputy how they will handle showing exhibits to
witnesses at the pretrial conference, including whether witness binders are necessary.
Exhibits shall be sequentially numbered (not lettered). Blocks of numbers should be
assigned to fit the needs of the case (e.g., the government has 1 to 100, Defendant A has 101 to
200, Defendant B has 201 to 300, etc.).
A single exhibit should be marked only once. If the government has marked an exhibit,
the defendant should not re-mark the same document with another number.
Different versions of the same document (e.g., versions of a document with and without
additional handwriting), however, must be treated as different exhibits and marked with different
numbers. Do not have witnesses write or draw on an exhibit that has already been admitted in
evidence. Mark the exhibit with a new number, have the witness write on the new exhibit, and
then move to admit the new exhibit into evidence once all the markings have been made.
Counsel must consult with each other and with the Courtroom Deputy at the end of each
trial day about which exhibits are in evidence and any limitations thereon. If there are any
disagreements, counsel should promptly bring them to Judge Lin’s attention.
Counsel must clearly announce the number of any exhibit used during the proceedings,
even if it has already been admitted.
At the close of evidence, before closing arguments, counsel must confer with the
Courtroom Deputy to make sure the exhibits in evidence are in good order.
Exhibit notebooks for the jury will not be permitted without prior permission from Judge
Lin.
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Upon the conclusion of the trial, and unless otherwise ordered by the Court, exhibits
offered during trial shall be filed on the docket within ten days of a trial verdict pursuant to Civil
L.R. 5-1(g). See Crim. L.R. 55-1. Each party shall retain a full set of exhibits after trial through
the appellate process.
PRETRIAL ARRANGEMENTS
Should a daily transcript and/or real-time reporting be desired, the parties shall make
arrangements with the Court Reporter Supervisor, at (415) 522-2079, at least 14 days before the
trial date.
No later than 5 days prior to the start of trial, the parties must provide the Court Reporter
a jointly created list of names, places, and any uncommon terms or acronyms that are likely to
come up during the trial.
If any witness will require an interpreter at trial, counsel shall notify the Courtroom
Deputy at least 30 days before the commencement of trial.
The parties should contact the Courtroom Deputy no later than 10 days before trial to
discuss any questions or issues about the layout of the courtroom. The Court may be able to
provide access to an easel and the courtroom electronic evidence presentation system. The
parties should consult the Court’s website for information on the available courtroom technology.
During trial, counsel may wish to use computer graphics, poster blow-ups, or models. The
parties must provide such equipment. Counsel should share equipment to the maximum extent
possible. The United States Marshal requires a court order to allow equipment into the
courthouse. To request such an order, the parties should contact the Courtroom Deputy no later
than 10 days before trial. For electronic equipment, the parties should arrange with the
Courtroom Deputy no later than 10 days before trial a date to set up and test the equipment in
advance of trial and be prepared to maintain the equipment during trial. The parties shall tape
extension cords to the carpet for safety.
JURY SELECTION AND TRIAL
The Court does not restrict the parties, their counsel, or any agent, consultant,
investigator, or anyone working for them from conducting research regarding a prospective juror,
so long as the research is done only from generally available sources (i.e., those that are publicly
available or derive their information from publicly available sources, free or paid) and that there
is no actual contact or any reasonable possibility of contact with a prospective juror. Contact
includes actions taken by a party, attorney, investigator, etc., that trigger a notification to a
prospective juror that their social media profile has been viewed by someone, even if that
notification does not specify who viewed the profile, is inadvertent, or is provided automatically
by the social media site (e.g., a LinkedIn notification that prospective juror’s profile was viewed
by an “anonymous person,” or certain social media sites that automatically provide a list of
accounts that have viewed the prospective juror’s posts or content). No “follow requests,”
“friend requests,” or the like may be sent to any prospective juror on any social media site,
regardless of whether a profile is public or private. No in-person surveillance, no matter how
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brief, of any home, neighborhood, or place of work of any prospective juror or any family
member of a prospective juror is allowed.
The parties do not need to submit proposed voir dire questions in advance of trial.
A day or so before jury selection, the Court will hold an “excusal hearing” for the purpose
of determining which prospective jurors should be excused for hardship or cause based
exclusively on their questionnaire responses. One to two days before the excusal hearing, the
Court will send counsel a copy of the responses. The remaining jurors will be called in for jury
selection.
At the close of each trial day, counsel must notify the other side of the witnesses who will
be called the following two trial days.
The parties should review the guide for using prior statements of witnesses and refreshing
recollection at trial, which is posted in the Standing Orders section of Judge Lin’s website.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: March 16, 2026
Rita F. Lin
United States District Judge
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