PRACTICE STANDARDS FOR CRIMINAL CASES
Judge Daniel D. Domenico
United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Courtroom A1002
Chambers A1038
Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse
901 19th Street
Denver, CO 80294
Telephone: (303) 335-2468
Email:
[email protected]
Revised: December 2025
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 may result in appropriate 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. Email messages to Chambers 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.
2. For questions about filing documents electronically, please con-
tact the ECF Help Desk at (303) 335-2050, (866) 365-6381, or cod_
[email protected]. For other case filing and docketing ques-
tions, 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. These Practice Standards may be cited as “DDD Crim. P.S. XX”
(e.g., “DDD Crim. P.S. III(A)(1)”).
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 must be in a proportionally spaced,
serif font.
II. COURTROOM PROCEDURES
A. Courtroom Operations
1. For information regarding the courtroom, including instructions
on how to proceed by telephone conference or video teleconference, court-
room equipment and technology, courtroom protocol, trial preparation
and submission of trial exhibits, and the use of exhibits and deposition
transcripts at hearings or trial, please contact the Courtroom Deputy,
Robb Keech, at
[email protected].
B. Recording of Proceedings
1. 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 thirty
days before the trial or hearing.
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2. Not later than five business days before any hearing, trial, or
other proceeding, counsel and any pro se party must file a glossary of
any difficult, unusual, scientific, or technical words, names, places,
terms, or phrases.
C. Exhibits
1. Counsel must confer and agree from the commencement of dis-
covery 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 hearing and trial purposes (e.g., the employment contract at issue
would be the same exhibit with the same number for all hearings and at
trial). All exhibits should be identified by number only (e.g., “Exhibit 1,”
not “Plaintiff’s Exhibit 1”). Numbers for trial exhibits need not be con-
secutive.
2. Each party must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or iden-
tified for the record at a hearing or trial. The case number must appear
on each exhibit sticker or label.
III. MOTIONS AND OBJECTIONS PRACTICE
A. Length Limitations
1. All motions, objections, responses, and briefs must not exceed
4,000 words. Reply briefs must not exceed 2,700 words.
2. These length limitations include footnotes, but exclude the case
caption, any table of contents or table of authorities, signature block,
certificate of service, and certificate of compliance with the applicable
length limitation. Motions and opening briefs must be combined in a
single document and will be considered one paper for purposes of the
applicable length limitation.
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3. All motions, objections, responses, and briefs must contain a sep-
arate statement, immediately after the signature block, certifying that
the paper complies with the applicable length limitation set forth in
these Practice Standards (e.g., “I hereby certify that the foregoing paper
complies with the length limitation set forth in DDD Crim.
P.S. III(A)(1).”).
4. A party may file a motion to exceed the applicable length limita-
tion explaining the reasons why additional length is necessary. Any such
motion must be filed no later than three business 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-
pers are subject to page limits 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 must clearly and completely identify by title and
CM/ECF docket number the antecedent motion, objection, or other pa-
per to which the response is made. Similarly, a reply must clearly and
completely identify by title and CM/ECF docket number 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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2. A notice of supplemental authority may be filed if new relevant
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 refer-
ence to the issue to which the filing party believes the new authority
pertains (including a citation to the location(s) in previously filed brief-
ing where the issue was raised). If the new authority is not readily avail-
able on Westlaw® or LexisNexis®, attach it as an exhibit to the notice.
No comment, briefing, or response as to the significance or interpreta-
tion 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 must 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 should
identify the case number and name and the CM/ECF docket number of
the underlying motion.
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 “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 to Domenico_Cham-
[email protected] and copying all counsel of record, with a subject
line containing “Emergency Motion,” the case number and name, and
the CM/ECF docket number of the motion.
F. Motions to Continue Hearings and Trials
1. Motions to continue (including motions to vacate or reset) hear-
ings and trials will be determined pursuant to United States v. West, 828
F.2d 1468, 1469-70 (10th Cir. 1987). If a party seeks to continue a hear-
ing 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 are not effective unless and
until approved by the Court.
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G. Speedy Trial Act
1. Every motion filed must include a statement concerning the sta-
tus of, and the impact the motion may have, on the Speedy Trial Act
clock.
IV.TRIALS
A. Trial Scheduling and Preparation
1. The Court generally will set a trial date and Trial Preparation
Conference date after the Arraignment and Discovery Hearing and the
issuance of the Discovery Conference Memorandum. If the Court has not
contacted the parties or issued an order regarding trial scheduling
within two business days after the Discovery Conference Memorandum
has issued, counsel and pro se parties may email Chambers at Domeni
[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 a Trial Preparation Conference
the week before trial. Counsel who will try the case must attend.
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. Challenges pursuant to Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986),
must be made after peremptory challenges have concluded and before
the jury is sworn. A party that wants to preserve a Batson challenge
should request that the Court not release any jurors subject to the chal-
lenge.
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2. Jurors will be permitted to take notes during the trial.
3. Each 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) will be considered to trigger the exclusion of Speedy Trial
Act time pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)(G).
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