PRACTICE STANDARDS
(Criminal Cases)
Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney
United States District Court
District of Colorado
Courtroom A702
Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse
Chambers A738
901 19th Street
Denver, CO 80294
Telephone: (303) 335-2610
Email:
[email protected]
Revised: December 20254
I. GENERAL PROCEDURES
A. Applicable Rules
1. Those appearing in the District Court must know and follow:
a. The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure;
b. The Federal Rules of Evidence;
c. The Local Rules of Practice of the United States District
Court for the District of Colorado;
d. The Electronic Case Filing Procedures (Criminal Version
3.0 or the most current version); and
e. These Practice Standards.
2. Failure to comply with the foregoing rules or procedures or the
Practice Standards of this Court may result in appropriate sanctions.
B. Communications with Chambers
Inquiries to Chambers (e.g., questions about procedures and standards)
should be made via email to
[email protected].
Please copy opposing counsel or opposing pro se parties on all emails.
Please do not contact Chambers about substantive matters as Chambers
staff cannot give legal advice or grant informal requests not made via
motion. For information about filing documents electronically please contact
the ECF Help Desk at
[email protected] or (303) 844-3433.
C. Citations
1. Citations shall be made pursuant to the most current edition of The
Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.
2. Specific references in the form of pinpoint citations should be used
to identify relevant excerpts from a document (e.g., to ECF page
numbers or paragraph numbers). Whenever practicable, a citation to
an unpublished opinion should include its Westlaw citation.
3. These standards should be cited as Crim. Practice Standard, Part,
Section, Subsection, Paragraph, and Subparagraph (e.g., Crim.
Practice Standard IV.C.2.b.1).
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D. Typeface and Spacing
All papers filed with the Court by anyone other than a judicial officer shall
be double-spaced and in Arial 12-point font (exclusive of footnotes and
endnotes).
E. Proposed Orders
Parties may be directed to transmit proposed orders or other pleadings or
papers by e-mail to
[email protected]. The
proposed order or document should be submitted as an attachment to the
e-mail in editable (Word) format unless otherwise specified. The e-mail
message should identify the case number and document attached. Please
do not send documents directly to chambers by mail or e-mail unless
requested or ordered to do so by the Court.
II. COURTROOM PROCEDURES
A. Courtroom Operations
For information regarding the courtroom, including telephonic or video
connection (if such remote appearances have been granted by the Court),
courtroom equipment and technology, courtroom protocol, use of deposition
transcripts, the submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, and the use of
exhibits at trial, please contact the Courtroom Deputy, Julie Dynes, at
[email protected] or (303) 335-2054. The courtroom is
equipped with HDMI and VGA plug-ins for displaying exhibits. In addition,
there are monitors at each table including the witness stand, large screens
for the gallery, white pads, easels, and an ELMO.
Please contact Ms. Dynes at least 14 days prior to trial or evidentiary
hearing with any questions regarding remote witnesses (if allowed by the
Court), submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, use of exhibits at trial,
general courtroom procedures, and to schedule a technical walk-through, if
needed.
B. Recording of Proceedings
1. The realtime court reporter assigned to the Court is Sarah Mitchell.
Transcripts of proceedings may be ordered from Ms. Mitchell by
email at
[email protected]. Requests for
realtime or daily rough draft transcripts must be made at least 30
days before trial. For further details, contact Ms. Mitchell.
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2. The realtime and rough draft transcripts are unedited and uncertified
and may contain untranslated stenographic symbols, an occasional
reporter’s note, a misspelled proper name, and/or nonsensical word
combinations. All such entries will be corrected on the final certified
transcript when ordered. Due to the need to correct entries prior to
certification, counsel shall use the realtime draft only for the purpose
of augmenting counsel's notes. It shall not be used or cited in any
court proceeding or distributed to any other parties. By
purchasing a realtime transcript, purchaser agrees to the terms and
conditions for the use of this rough draft.
C. Courtroom Decorum
Creating a courtroom where all parties, witnesses, and counsel feel
welcome and respected is of utmost importance to this Court. In that regard,
counsel are invited and encouraged to identify the preferred pronouns of
counsel, clients, and witnesses at the earliest juncture possible. This may
be done in an initial signature block, in person at a conference or hearing,
or in a witness list. Should the wrong pronoun be used, counsel are
encouraged to bring that to the Court’s attention at the time, or through a
subsequent email to Chambers.
Counsel should bring any accessibility or disability accommodation issues
to the attention of the courtroom deputy prior to any hearing or trial so the
Court can ensure that all necessary accommodations are in place.
All parties should observe the following courtroom decorum:
1. Stand when the Judge enters or leaves the courtroom, when
addressing the Court, including making objections, and when the jury
enters or leaves the courtroom;
2. Request permission to approach the bench;
3. Address the Judge as “Your Honor”; and
4. Refer to all other persons by their surnames, prefaced by the
individual’s title (e.g., Dr., Agent, Officer, etc.) and preferred
pronouns.
D. Oaths
Please note and advise all persons appearing with you in court, including
co-counsel, paralegals, clients, witnesses, and spectators that oath-taking
is treated formally in the courtroom. The Court will administer an oath to a
jury or witness ONLY when all other activity in the courtroom has ceased.
Attorneys are directed to observe the administration of the oath and to stop
all other activity.
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III. MOTIONS AND OBJECTIONS PRACTICE
A. General
Motions with separately filed briefs or memoranda in support are not
permitted. The motion and all supporting arguments must be contained
within a single document.
Exhibits to a motion, response, or reply must be filed on the same calendar
day as the motion, response, or reply. Exhibits filed on a later day may be
summarily stricken.
B. Conferral
The moving party is directed to confer with opposing counsel (and co-
defendant counsel if applicable) before filing any motion and include the
opposing party’s position in the motion.
C. Page Limitations and Font Size
All motions, objections, responses, and concomitant briefs shall not exceed
15 pages. Replies are limited to 10 pages. These page limitations shall not
include any cover page, table of contents, signature block, or certificate of
service. The body of the text shall be no smaller than 12-point font. The
Court will entertain motions for extensions of the page limit where
appropriate and for good cause.
D. Motions to Continue
Motions to continue (including motions to vacate or reset) hearings and
trials will be determined pursuant to United States v. West, 828 F.2nd 1468,
1469–70 (10th Cir. 1987) unless a party seeks to continue a hearing or trial
outside the Speedy Trial Act deadlines, in which case it will be decided
pursuant to the Speedy Trial Act. Oral or written motions to continue should
not be made at the time of a hearing or trial. Stipulations for continuance
are not effective unless approved by the Court.
E. Motions for Extensions of Time
Motions for extension of time require a showing of good cause, which must
be established with particularity. For Ends of Justice extensions, see
subsection G.
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F. Motions for Discovery
1. The Court will not consider any motion related to the disclosure or
production of discovery that is addressed by the discovery order
and/or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16, unless counsel for the
moving party, prior to filing the motion, has conferred or made
reasonable efforts to attempt to resolve the disputed matter
(e.g., questions or disputes relating to the scope and/or timing of
disclosure of such discovery). Motions filed without conferral will be
summarily stricken.
2. If the parties can resolve the dispute, the motion shall be entitled
“Unopposed Motion for _____” and the parties shall submit via email
to Chambers the proposed order that the parties wish the Court to
enter.
3. If the parties are unable to resolve the dispute, the moving party shall
state in the motion the specific efforts that were taken to comply with
this duty to confer.
G. Ends of Justice Continuances of Hearings and Trials
All motions for an ends of justice continuance must:
1. Specify the number of days remaining on the speedy trial clock and
the date the requesting party believes the speedy trial clock expires;
2. Specify the number of days the party is seeking to exclude;
3. Identify which parties join in the motion and which parties object to
the motion. Any party who objects to the granting of an ends of justice
continuance must file their objection within seven days of the filing
of the motion.
H. Emergency Motions
Emergency motions are only those necessary to avoid imminent irreparable
harm. Counsel filing an emergency motion should ensure that: (1) the
caption of the motion begins with the word “emergency”; (2) the motion is
electronically filed using CM/ECF drop-down menu option entitled
“Emergency” on the docket text modification screen; and (3) Chambers is
notified of the motion by email to
[email protected],
with a subject line containing “Emergency Motion,” and the case name and
number.
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I. Responses and Replies
A response shall clearly and completely identify by title, the CM/ECF docket
number, and date filed the antecedent motion or petition to which the
response is made. Similarly, a reply shall clearly and completely identify by
title, CM/ECF docket number, and date filed the antecedent response to
which the reply is made.
J. Objections to Rule 404(b) Notices
Objections to a Fed. R. Evid. 404(b) notice shall be filed no later than
seven days after such Rule 404(b) notice was filed.
K. Motions In Limine
1. Motions in limine are strongly discouraged when the motion cannot
be resolved until evidence is presented at trial. Instead, such
evidentiary issues can be flagged in a trial brief. If motions in limine
are filed, they must be filed 14 days before the Trial Preparation
Conference. Any responses to the motions in limine shall be filed
seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference.
2. Conferral and One Motion Limit: Prior to filing a motion in limine,
counsel shall confer with one another in an attempt to resolve the
contested evidentiary issues. If they are unable to come to a mutual
resolution, counsel shall then determine which party will file the
motion on the particular evidentiary issue and which party will file the
response.
3. Each party shall be limited to one motion in limine unless the Court
grants leave for a supplemental filing. The motion shall address all
difficult or unusual evidentiary issues the party anticipates will arise
at trial, with each discrete evidentiary dispute separately
numbered within the motion. The motion and response shall be
limited to eight pages unless there is a showing of good cause and
the Court grants leave to extend the page limits. All text in these
filings will count against the page limits, except for the attorney or
party signature blocks and the certificate of service. No reply brief in
support of a motion in limine will be permitted.
L. Expert Disclosures
All required disclosures by the Government pursuant to Federal Rule of
Criminal Procedure 16(a)(b)(1)(G) or any Defendant(s) pursuant to Federal
Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(b)(1)(C) shall occur no later than 30 days
prior to trial. Any objections to such disclosures or anticipated testimony,
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including but not limited to those that may be made pursuant to Federal
Rules of Evidence 702, 703, and 705, and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms.,
Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), shall be filed within seven days thereafter.
M. Trial Briefs
Trial briefs are encouraged but not required absent specific Court order. If
filed, trial briefs shall not exceed 10 pages and shall be filed not later than
seven days before trial. Please flag evidentiary issues in a trial brief rather
than by motion in limine. A trial brief may not be used as a substitute for a
motion.
IV. HEARINGS AND TRIALS
A. Exhibits and Exhibit Lists
1. Format: Parties must use the exhibit list template available on the
District Court website at Hon. Charlotte N. Sweeney | US District
Court of Colorado.
2. When to File Exhibit Lists:
a. Parties shall file their exhibit lists via CM/ECF no later than
two business days before a hearing or seven days before
the Trial Preparation Conference. Final exhibit lists shall be
filed via CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial.
3. When to Submit Exhibits:
a. Motions Hearings: each party must provide a copy of its
exhibits to opposing counsel or any pro se party two
business days before the hearing. Each party must provide
a copy of its exhibits (one flash drive and two notebooks) to
the Courtroom deputy on the day of the hearing.
b. Trial: each party must provide one USB flash drive and two
exhibit notebooks, one containing the original exhibits and
one containing copies of the exhibits for the Court, to the
Courtroom Deputy on the morning of the first day of trial. The
following information should appear on the cover of each
notebook: (i) caption, (ii) nature of the proceeding,
(iii) scheduled date and time, and (iv) “original” or “copy.”
c. Exhibits Preparation:
i. The parties must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used
or identified for the record. Exhibits not timely pre-
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marked or exchanged before a hearing or trial may not
be admitted.
ii. The case number shall appear on each exhibit sticker
or label. If exhibits are not bound and labeled properly,
the trial may be delayed or continued until they are.
iii. There is no need for duplicate exhibits or for a party to
seek to admit exhibits offered by another party and
admitted by the Court or by stipulation.
iv. The parties shall confer and attempt to stipulate to the
admissibility of any exhibits.
v. No oversized exhibits are to be used unless requested
by prior motion and approved by the Court.
vi. If a particular exhibit has more than two pages and is
not otherwise paginated internally, pages within the
exhibit shall be numbered sequentially.
B. Witness Lists
1. Format: The parties must use the witness list form available through the
District Court website at http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/Judicial
Officers/ActiveArticleIIIJudges/HonCharlotteNSweeney.aspx.
2. When to File: Each party shall submit a list of its proposed witnesses as
set forth below:
a. Parties shall file their witness lists via CM/ECF no later than two
business days before a hearing or seven days before the Trial
Preparation Conference. Final witness lists shall be filed via
CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial.
b. For trial preparation conferences, two days after witness lists are
filed, the parties shall file estimates of the time required for their
cross-examination of the opposing party’s witnesses. The parties
shall include the proposed order of witnesses, the anticipated
length of testimony, and the expertise of any testifying experts. The
parties shall also advise the Court whether any witnesses will
appear by video.
3. A Final witness lists, must include an estimate of the time anticipated for
each witness’s direct and cross-examination.
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C. Depositions
Together with Fed. R. Crim. P. 15, this practice standard governs the use
of depositions in criminal proceedings:
1. Deposition designations and objections: If a party intends to offer
deposition testimony in lieu of a live witness at trial, counsel shall
exchange with each other their designations of anticipated deposition
testimony. If any party objects to any deposition designations, the
parties shall jointly file with the Court a single marked-up transcript of
their respectively designated deposition testimony no later than 14 days
before trial. The Government’s designations shall be highlighted in
yellow, and Defendant’s designations shall be highlighted in blue. The
parties shall also file a chart identifying the designation by page and line
number and any objections to that designation. Objections must state
the rule and a short statement of the basis for the objection.
2. For jury trials, parties shall provide a person to read the deposition
answers.
3. For bench trials, depositions will not usually be read in open court.
Instead, the Court will read them in chambers in any requested
sequence. At the beginning of the trial, the offering party shall provide
the courtroom deputy with two copies of the relevant deposition
transcript marked as an exhibit with the Government’s designated
portions highlighted in yellow and the defendant’s in blue.
D. Videotaped Depositions
Together with Fed. R. Crim. P. 15, this practice standard governs the use
of videotaped depositions in criminal proceedings. Objections to any
portion of a proposed videotaped deposition shall be filed and determined
pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.1 and these Practice Standards. Objections
may be resolved before trial to facilitate appropriate redaction.
E. Trial Preparation Conference
The Court will set a date for the Trial Preparation Conference at the time it
sets the case for Trial. Counsel who will try the case must attend.
Not later than seven days prior to the Trial Preparation Conference, the
parties shall submit, via CM/ECF, the following:
1. Witness and exhibit lists: the parties shall file their proposed
witness and exhibit lists via CM-ECF in accordance with Section IV.A
and B.
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2. Proposed jury instructions and verdict forms: the parties shall file
their instructions and verdict forms via CM-ECF and by email to
[email protected] in editable (Word) format.
Verdict forms shall be submitted in a separate file from jury
instructions. Within the jury instruction file, each jury instruction shall
begin on a new page.
Clear and concise jury instructions are imperative. While the Court
encourages the use of stock and model instructions, counsel should
review those instructions with the average layperson in mind and
modify language that is overly complicated or “lawyerly.”
As with jury instructions, the Court urges counsel to confer and craft
a stipulated verdict form that is understandable to lay persons.
Where possible, jury instructions and verdict forms will be finalized
before the trial begins.
a. Each instruction should be numbered (e.g., “Government’s
Instruction No. 1”) for purposes of making a record at the jury
instruction conference. The parties shall attempt to stipulate
to the jury instructions, particularly “stock” instructions, and
verdict forms.
b. To the maximum extent possible, the parties shall agree on
one stipulated set of proposed jury instructions; only true
conflict or uncertainty in binding substantive law should
prevent such agreement.
c. The jury instructions shall identify the source of the instruction
and supporting authority. Whenever practicable and
appropriate, the parties shall use or adapt for use the Criminal
Pattern Jury Instructions prepared by the Criminal Pattern
Jury Instruction Committee of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The pattern instructions and
updates may be found online at
(https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/).
d. To the extent that counsel are unable to agree on proposed
instructions, they are to jointly submit a document identifying
all disputed instructions, with a brief statement of dispute and
each side’s proposed language.
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F. Jury Trials
1. The parties shall be present on the first day of trial at 8:00 a.m. Jury
selection will begin at 8:30 a.m. The second day of trial will begin at
8:30 a.m. and continue until approximately 4:30 p.m. The trial day
will have morning and afternoon recesses of approximately fifteen
minutes in duration. A lunch break of approximately one hour will be
taken at approximately 12:00 p.m.
2. Voir Dire: After potential jurors are seated in the courtroom, the Court
will give them a brief statement of the case and conduct initial voir
dire.
a. The parties will conduct the remainder of the voir dire
examination. Unless ordered otherwise, each side shall be
permitted voir dire examination of 30 minutes after voir dire
examination by the Court.
3. Challenges pursuant to Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986),
shall be made and considered at the time challenges for cause are
made, before the jury is sworn. A party that wants to preserve a
Batson challenge should request the Court not to release any jurors
subject to the challenge.
4. Jurors will be permitted to take notes during the trial.
5. The jury will be instructed before closing argument.
6. Each juror will be given a copy of the written jury instructions for use
during deliberations.
G. Trials to the Court
1. Trials to the court will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the first day of trial.
2. For a trial to the Court, a proper resume or curriculum vitae, marked
as an exhibit, generally will suffice for the qualification of an expert
witness.
J. Glossary
1. Not later than five business days before trial, the parties shall email
to Chambers a Glossary of any difficult, unusual, scientific, or
technical words, names, terms, or phrases.
2. The parties shall submit to the Courtroom Deputy three paper
copies of the Glossary and provide a copy of the Glossary to
opposing counsel and any pro se party on the day of trial.
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V. PLEA AGREEMENTS
A. Treatment of Notice of Disposition
Any notice of disposition filed pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCrR 11.1A shall be
considered to be a pretrial motion within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. §
3161(h)(1)(F) for the purpose of computing time under the Speedy Trial Act
of 1974, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3161–74.
B. Rule 11(c)(1)(C) Pleas
Any plea agreement pursuant to Fed. R. Crim P. 11(c)(1)(C) must be
submitted to chambers no later than 14 days before the date set for
trial.
C. Plea Agreement Content Restriction
1. No plea agreement shall identify whether a defendant has agreed to
cooperate with the United States or other jurisdiction with respect to
the investigation or prosecution of others.
2. Consequently, no plea agreement shall contain any reference to any
cooperation agreement between the Defendant and Government, to
any potential for a motion under 5K.1.1 of the United States
Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.), or to any other statutory or
guideline calculation or adjustment predicated on such cooperation.
D. Change of Plea Hearing
1. The AUSA who negotiated the plea agreement and defense counsel
who reviewed the plea agreement with the defendant must be
present in person at the Change of Plea hearing.
2. Courtesy Copy of Plea Agreement: No less than five business days
before the Change of Plea Hearing, the parties shall send via email
a courtesy copy of the plea agreement (signed or unsigned) to
Chambers.
3. Signed Plea Agreement: Pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCrR 11.1(e),
defense counsel shall submit the signed original and one copy of the
“Statement by Defendant in Advance of Change of Plea” and the
“Plea Agreement and Statement of Facts” to the Courtroom Deputy
at the time of the hearing.
4. If the defendant is pleading to an Information that has not been filed
prior to the Change of Plea Hearing, Counsel must provide copies of
the Information, Criminal Penalty Sheet, and Waiver of Indictment to
the Courtroom Deputy at the time of the hearing.
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Table of Pretrial/Trial Deadlines
Note: This table is provided for the convenience of parties appearing before Judge
Sweeney. It does not include all the dates and deadlines listed within the Judge’s Criminal
Practice Standards and is not a substitute for knowledge of and familiarity with the text.
DEADLINE DAYS PRIOR CRIM. PRACTICE
STANDARDS REF.
Motions Hearing
Objections to Rule 404(b) Notices 7 days after notice filed III.E
Objections to Ends of Justice Continuance 7 days after motion III.D
filed
Courtesy Copy of Plea Agreement 5 business days prior V.D.2
Exhibits and Witness List 2 business days prior IV.A.2.a & IV.B.2.a
Prior to Trial Preparation Conference
Motions in limine 14 days III.F
Responses to motions in limine 7 days III.F
Proposed jury instructions and verdict form 7 days IV.E.2
Exhibit list 7 days IV.E
Witness list 7 days IV.E
Estimates for cross-examinations of opposing 5 days (or two days IV.B.2.b
party’s witnesses after witness lists are
filed)
Prior to Trial
Realtime or daily rough draft transcript request 30 days II.B
Designations and objections regarding 14 days IV.C.2
deposition designations
Questions to Courtroom Deputy regarding 14 days II.A
courtroom technology
Trial briefs 7 days III.G
Glossary due (3 copies) 5 business days IV.J.1
Exhibit notebooks (2) and USB flash drive (1) Morning of first day of IV.A.2.b
trial
Final witness list Friday before trial by IV.B.3
noon
Final exhibit list Friday before trial by IV.A.3
noon
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