PRACTICE STANDARDS FOR CRIMINAL CASES
(Criminal Cases)
Judge Daniel D. Domenico
United States District Court for the
District of Colorado
Courtroom A1002702
Chambers A1038
Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse
Chambers A738, Seventh Floor
901 19th Street.
Denver, CO 80294
Telephone: (303) 335-2468
Email:
[email protected]
Revised: December 202519
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. GENERAL PROCEDURES ................................................................ 1
A. Applicable Rules ............................................................................ 1
B. Communications with Chambers ................................................. 1
C. Citations ........................................................................................ 2
D. Typeface ......................................................................................... 2
II. COURTROOM PROCEDURES ......................................................... 2
A. Courtroom Operations .................................................................. 2
B. Recording of Proceedings .............................................................. 2
C. Exhibits .......................................................................................... 3
III.MOTIONS AND OBJECTIONS PRACTICE .................................... 3
A. Length Limitations........................................................................ 3
B. Responses and Replies .................................................................. 4
C. Proposed Orders ............................................................................ 5
D. Exhibits .......................................................................................... 5
E. Emergency Motions ....................................................................... 6
F. Motions to Continue Hearings and Trials .................................... 6
G. Speedy Trial Act ............................................................................ 7
IV. TRIALS ............................................................................................... 7
A. Trial Scheduling and Preparation ................................................ 7
B. Jury Trials ..................................................................................... 7
V. PLEA AGREEMENTS........................................................................ 8
A. Treatment of Notice of Disposition ............................................... 8
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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 Cases) of the
United States District Court for the District of Colorado; and
e. These Practice Standards for Criminal Cases.
2. Failure to comply with the foregoing rules or procedures or these
Practice Standards of this Court may result in the imposition of appro-
priate sanctions.
B. Communications with Chambers
1. Please do not call Chambers. Instead, inquiries to Chambers
(e.g., questions about procedure or clarifications to these Practice Stand-
ards) should be made via email to Domenico_Chambers@cod.
uscourts.gov. Please do not call Chambers. Email messages to Cham-
bers should identify the case number and name in the subject line and
copy all counsel of record. Chambers staff cannot give legal advice or
grant informal requests not made via motion, so please do not contact
Chambers about substantive matters.
1.2. For informationquestions about filing documents electroni-
cally, please contact the ECF Help Desk at (866) 365-6381 or (303)
335-2050, (866) 365-6381, or
[email protected]. For
other case filing and docketing questions, please contact the Court’s
Case Administration Specialist at (303) 335-2074.
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C. Citations
1. Citation and formatting may be in Bluebook form or in any man-
ner that consistently, accurately, and understandably conveys the sup-
porting authorities necessary to support a party’s legal argument.
2. Though it is not mandatory, counsel may wish to consult the short
citation guide prepared by Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit
Court of Appeals, a copy of which is available at https://
www.law.gmu.edu/assets/files/faculty/Posner_citation_formatting_
rules.pdf.
3.2. These Practice Standards may be cited as “DDD Crim. P.S.
XX” (e.g., “DDD Crim. P.S. III(A)(1)”).
4.3. Whenever practicable, a citation to an unpublished opinion
should include its Westlaw® citation. If an unpublished opinion is not
readily available on Westlaw® or LexisNexis®, attach it as an exhibit to
the brief or other paper.
D. Typeface
1. All papers filed with the Court mustshall be in a proportionally
spaced, serif font.
E.A. Proposed Orders
1. Proposed orders submitted pursuant to the Local Rules of Prac-
tice or at the direction of the Court shall be filed via CM/ECF and
emailed to
[email protected] in editable Word for-
mat. The email message should identify the case name and number in
the subject line and refer to the underlying motion by CM/ECF number.
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F.A. Continuances of Hearings and Trials
1. Motions to continue (including motions to vacate or reset) hear-
ings and trials shall be determined pursuant to United States v. West,
828 F.2d 1468, 1469-70 (10th Cir. 1987). If a party seeks to continue a
hearing or trial outside of Speedy Trial Act deadlines, it will also be de-
cided pursuant to the Speedy Trial Act. Oral or written motions to con-
tinue made at the time of a hearing or trial may not be entertained by
the Court. Stipulations for continuance shall not be effective unless and
until approved by the Court.
G.A. Emergency Motions
1. 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 the CM/ECF drop-down menu
option entitled “Emergency” on the docket text modification screen; and
(3) Chambers is notified of the motion by email at Domenico_Cham-
[email protected], with a subject line containing “Emergency Mo-
tion,” and the case name and number.
II. COURTROOM PROCEDURES
A. Courtroom Operations
1. For information regarding the courtroom, including instructions
on how to proceed by telephone conference or video teleconferencetele-
phonic connection, courtroom equipment and technology, courtroom pro-
tocol, trial preparation and submission of trial exhibits, and the use of
exhibits and deposition transcripts at hearings or trial, the submission
of trial exhibits and witness lists, and the use of exhibits at trial, please
contact the Courtroom Deputy, Patricia GloverRobb Keech, at Robb
[email protected](303) 335-2185.
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B. Recording of Proceedings
1. The realtime reporter assigned to the court is Tracy Weir at
(303) 335-2358. Transcripts of proceedings may be ordered from Ms.
Weir. To order transcripts of proceedings, please contact the Court Re-
porter, Tamara Hoffschildt, at
[email protected]. Re-
quests for real-time, daily, or hourly copy must be made at least
30thirty days before the trial or hearing. For further details, contact
Ms. Weir.
2. Not later than five business days before any hearing, trial, or
other proceeding, counsel and any pro se party mustshall file and pro-
vide the Court, the court reporter, courtroom deputy clerk, opposing
counsel, and any pro se party with a glossary of any difficult, unusual,
scientific, or technical words, names, places, terms, or phrases.
C. Exhibits
1. Each party must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or iden-
tified for the record in a hearing or trial. The case number shall appear
on each exhibit sticker or label.
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2.1. Counsel mustshall confer and agree from the commencement
of discovery on a numbering system that will avoid confusion and dupli-
cation, and that will allow the same exhibit number to be used for each
exhibit for hearingdeposition and trial purposes (e.g., the employment
contract at issue would be the same exhibit with the same number for
all hearingsdepositions and at trial). All exhibits should be identified by
number only (e.g., “Exhibit 1,” not “Plaintiff’s Exhibit 1”). Counsel shall
confer and agree from the commencement of discovery on a numbering
system that will avoid confusion and duplication, and that will allow the
same exhibit number to be used for each exhibit for deposition and trial
purposes (e.g., the employment contract at issue would be the same ex-
hibit with the same number for all depositions and at trial). Numbers
for trial exhibits need not be consecutive.
2. Each party must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or iden-
tified for the record atin a hearing or trial. The case number mustshall
appear on each exhibit sticker or label.
III. MOTIONS AND OBJECTIONS PRACTICE
A. Length Limitations
1. All motions, objections, responses, and briefs mustshall not ex-
ceed 4,000 words. Reply briefs mustshall not exceed 2,700 words.
2. These lengthtype-volume limitations shall include footnotes, but
shall exclude the case caption, any table of contents or table of authori-
ties, signature block, certificate of service, and certificate of compliance
with the applicable lengthtype-volume limitations. Motions and opening
briefs mustshall be combined in a single document and willshall be con-
sidered one paper for purposes of the applicable lengthtype-volume lim-
itations.
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3. All motions, objections, responses, and briefsEach pleading must
contain a separate statement, immediately after the signature block,
certifying that the paperpleading complies with the applicable
lengthtype-volume limitations set forth in these Practice Standards.
(e.g., “I hereby certify that the foregoing paperpleading complies with
the lengthtype-volume limitation set forth in Judge Domenico’s Practice
Standard DDD Crim. P.S. III(A)(1).”).
4. A party may file a motion to exceed the applicable lengthword
limitation explaining the reasons why additional length iswords are nec-
essary. Any such motion mustshall be filed no later than three busi-
ness days before the date the motion, response, reply, or other paper is
due.
5. For any party who does not have access to a word-processing sys-
tem with a word-count function, typewritten or legibly handwritten pa-
perspleadings are subject to page limitations instead of the word limits
of paragraph (1) above. The following equivalents should be used:
a. 2,700 words = 10 pages;
b. 4,000 words = 15 pages; and
c. 5,500 words = 20 pages.
B. Responses and Replies
1. A response mustshall clearly and completely identify by title and,
court CM/ECF docket number, and date filed, the antecedent motion,
objection, or other paper or petition to which the response is made. Sim-
ilarly, a reply mustshall clearly and completely identify by title and,
court CM/ECF docket number, and date filed, the antecedent paper the
reply supports and the antecedent response to which the reply is made.
No sur-reply or supplemental brief is permitted without leave of Court.
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1.2. A notice of supplemental authority may be filed if new rele-
vant authority is issued after briefing closed on a motion, objection, or
other pending issue. Such a notice must be limited to (a) a citation to the
new authority including the date of issuance, and (b) a single-sentence
reference to the issue to which the filing party believes the new author-
ity pertains (including a citation to the location(s) in previously filed
briefing where the issue was raised). If the new authority is not readily
available on Westlaw® or LexisNexis®, attach it as an exhibit to the
notice. No comment, briefing, or response as to the significance or inter-
pretation of the new authority is permitted without leave of Court. No
notice of supplemental authority regarding any authority that issued
before the close of briefing may be filed without leave of Court.
C. Proposed Orders
1. Proposed orders submitted pursuant to the Local Rules of Prac-
tice or at the direction of the Court mustshall be filed via CM/ECF and
emailed to
[email protected] in editable Word for-
mat, copying all counsel of record. The subject line of the email message
should identify the case number and name and number in the subject
line and refer to the CM/ECF docket number of the underlying motion
by CM/ECF number.
D. Exhibits
1. Exhibits to motions, objections, responses, and briefs must be la-
beled in the CM/ECF system both by exhibit number and by name (e.g.,
“Exhibit 1 - Smith Affidavit”).
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2. Copies of documents attached as exhibits to a motion, objection,
or other opening brief should not be attached as exhibits to the response,
and copies of documents attached as exhibits to a response should not
be attached as exhibits to a reply. Any additional exhibit should be at-
tached to the corresponding response or reply and consecutively num-
bered.
3. Voluminous exhibits are discouraged. Parties should limit exhib-
its to essential portions of documents.
E. Emergency Motions
1. 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 “eEmergency”;
(2) the motion is electronically filed using the CM/ECF drop-down menu
option entitled “Emergency” on the docket- text modification screen; and
(3) Chambers is notified of the motion by email atto Domenico_Cham-
[email protected] and copying all counsel of record, with a subject
line containing “Emergency Motion,” and the case number and name,
and the CM/ECF docket number of the motion.
F. Motions to Continueances of Hearings and Trials
1. Motions to continue (including motions to vacate or reset) hear-
ings and trials willshall be determined pursuant to United States v.
West, 828 F.2d 1468, 1469-70 (10th Cir. 1987). If a party seeks to con-
tinue a hearing or trial outside of Speedy Trial Act deadlines, it will also
be decided pursuant to the Speedy Trial Act. Oral or written motions to
continue made at the time of a hearing or trial may not be entertained
by the Court. Stipulated motions for continuance areshall not be effec-
tive unless and until approved by the Court.
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C.G. Speedy Trial Act
1. Every motion filed mustshall include a statement concerning the
status of, and the impact the motion may have, on the sSpeedy tTrial
Act clock.
IV.TRIALS
A. Trial Scheduling and Preparation Conference
1. The Court generally will generally contact the parties to set a trial
date and Trial Preparation Conference date after the Arraignment and
Discovery Hearing and the issuance of the Discovery Conference Mem-
orandumcounsel for both sides have entered an appearance. If the Court
has not contacted the parties or issued an order regarding trial schedul-
ing within two business days after the Discovery Conference Memoran-
dum has issued, counsel and pro se parties may email Chambers at Do
[email protected] and politely inquire regarding trial
scheduling. Such email messages should identify the case number and
name in the subject line and copy all counsel of record.
2. In most cases, the Court will set aThe Trial Preparation Confer-
ence the week before trialwill usually be held approximately four to
seven days before trial. Counsel who will try the case must attend.
2.3. The Court’s order setting the trial date and Trial Preparation
Conference date will specify the pretrial tasks to be completed (e.g., mo-
tions in limine, proposed jury instructions, etc.) and the deadlines for
those tasks.
B. Jury Trials
1. The jury in criminal cases will normally consist of twelve jurors,
and the Court may in its discretion impanel alternate jurors pursuant
to Fed. R. Crim. P. 24(c). Each side shall have the number of peremptory
challenges prescribed by Fed. R. Crim. P. 24(b) and (c)(4).
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2.1. Challenges pursuant to Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79
(1986), mustshall be made and considered after peremptory challenges
haveare concluded and before the jury is sworn. A party that wants to
preserve a Batson challenge should request that the Court not to release
any jurors subject to the challenge.
3.2. Jurors will be permitted to take notes during the trial.
4.3. The jury will be instructed before closing argument, and eEach
juror will be given a copy of the written jury instructions for use during
deliberations.
V. PLEA AGREEMENTS
A. Treatment of Notice of Disposition
1. Any notice of disposition filed pursuant to Local Criminal
Rule 11.1(a) willshall be considered to trigger the exclusion of Speedy
Trial Act time pursuant tobe a proposed plea agreement within the
meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)(G) for the purpose of computing time
under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3161-74.
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