IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
United States of America, Case No.
Plaintiff,
-vs-
JUDGE PAMELA A. BARKER
CRIMINAL PRE-TRIAL ORDER
Defendants.
This case is scheduled for Trial on The trial day will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m.
and will conclude at approximately 4:30 p.m. Counsel must appear at 8:30 a.m. The trial will be held
in the courtroom of United States District Judge Pamela A. Barker, located in Room 16A of the Carl
B. Stokes United States Court House, 801 West Superior Avenue, Cleveland Ohio, 44113. The Final
Pretrial Conference/Change of Plea is scheduled for at 9:00 a.m. Lead Counsel and
Defendants must be present at all proceedings unless excused by the Court upon written
motion.
1. Discovery
It is the responsibility of counsel to notify the Court in writing immediately of any failure to
provide discovery material. The Court will not continue a scheduled trial because of a failure to
provide discovery.
2. Pretrial Motions
Pretrial motions, including motions to suppress, shall be filed 14 days prior to the final
pretrial. Briefs in Opposition shall be filed 7 days prior to final pretrial. If required, a
Suppression Hearing will be held on the date of the Final Pretrial. Every motion shall be
supported by a substantial foundation, explicitly stated pursuant to Local Crim. Rule 12.1. Counsel
for the Government shall respond in writing to a motion to suppress.
3. Trial Briefs
The following must be included in a trial brief which is to be submitted to the Court one week
prior to trial by no later than 4:00 p.m:
a. Joint Preliminary Statement. Counsel for the parties shall confer in person and
agree upon a concise written statement describing the case in an impartial, easily understood manner
and submit it to the Court to be read to the jury panel prior to voir dire. The statement will be used
to set the context of the trial for the jury.
b. Stipulations. Counsel for the parties are directed to confer in person, agree upon
stipulations, and reduce them to writing. Stipulations shall be signed by all counsel and submitted
to the Court.
c. Jury Instructions. A joint set of jury instructions identifying the following:
i) instructions agreed upon by all counsel with supporting legal authority; and
ii) instructions in dispute with the party proposing the instruction stating supporting
reasons and legal authority, and the party objecting to the instructions stating
supporting reasons and legal authority.
No proposed jury instruction will be considered by the Court unless it has been submitted in
compliance with these provisions, except that request for instructions that could not reasonably have
been anticipated may be submitted during trial.
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Counsel must also provide one agreed upon jury instructions to the Court on a cd rom. The
Court is equipped with Microsoft Word. When submitting the cd rom to the Court, counsel are
advised to alert the security guard and avoid the x-ray machine to avoid accidental erasure.
The Court intends to adhere as closely as possible to pattern criminal jury instructions
issued by the Sixth Circuit and the Federal Judicial Center.
d. A list of voir dire questions. Counsel are directed to submit to the Court, in writing,
a list of proposed voir dire questions. Counsel should confer in person and, to the extent possible,
agree upon a complete set of voir dire questions. The Court will conduct initial voir dire of the panel
and of individual panel members. The Court will thereafter allow one counsel for each party to
question briefly individual panel members on relevant issues not addressed by the Court.
e. Memoranda. Counsel for the parties are directed to submit to the Court appropriate
memoranda, with citations to legal authority, in support of evidentiary questions and any other legal
issues which may reasonably be anticipated to arise at trial.
f. Estimate of Length of Trial. Counsel are directed to submit the Court an estimate of
the length of trial.
4. Witness Lists
Counsel shall provide witness lists to the Court no later than seven days prior to trial. The
witness lists shall provide a brief description and purpose of each witness to be offered. Each attorney
shall have a continuing obligation to supplement the party’s witness list immediately upon learning
of any additional witness. Witnesses not identified prior to trial shall not be permitted to testify at
trial, absent a showing of good cause. This rule applies to lay witnesses as well as to expert witnesses.
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5. Exhibits
Counsel shall exchange demonstrative evidence, such as models or sketches, no later than two
days prior to the date of trial. All exhibits must be marked before trial in accordance with Local
Criminal Rule 23.2.
The Court is using new technology to facilitate the viewing of exhibits by jurors. Each party
must submit all exhibits on a single storage device such as a CD, DVD, or USB drive. A separate CD
or USB drive should be provided for Plaintiffs’ Exhibits, Defendants’ Exhibits, and any Joint
Exhibits. Each party must send the exhibits to the Court, Chambers 16A, such that the Court is
guaranteed to receive the exhibits by no later than two days before trial.
The Exhibit Files must be renamed using a naming convention similar to:<exhibit number>-
<exhibit part>_<exhibit description>.<file extension>. The exhibit number MUST be a number.
Exhibits with subparts can be so designated using a letter for the exhibit part. The use of the
“underscore” character is required when an optional description of the exhibit is included and cannot
be used elsewhere in the exhibit name.
Example listing of valid exhibit file names:
1-a_photograph.jpg12_2009
Tax Statement.pdf
35d.pdf
12(a)_camera footage.wmv
Any questions regarding the naming conventions for the electronically stored exhibits should
be directed to David Zendlo at (216) 357-7053.
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To maintain consistency between the electronic and the paper exhibits, BOTH PARTIES
SHALL LABEL THEIR EXHIBITS WITH NUMBERS. Counsel shall mark all exhibits before trial
with official or similar stickers. Exhibits shall be labeled with the party followed by the exhibit
number (e.g., “Plaintiff 1”, “Def 2”, or “P 3”). The case number shall also appear on the stickers.
In addition to electronically submitting exhibits, Counsel shall submit to the Court two (2)
hard copies of all proposed exhibits, contained in two separate binders, along with an index
(Appendix B) containing a brief description of each exhibit on the morning the commences.
The Court will not allow exhibits to be given to the jury during trial without prior Court
approval. If the Court approves such a request, a copy for each juror must be provided so that all
jurors may view the exhibit simultaneously. Exhibits that are not identified and exchanged prior to
trial shall not be introduced at trial, absent a showing of good cause.
6. Objections to Witnesses or Exhibits
Counsel are directed to confer with each other to resolve any objections to witnesses or
exhibits that they may have. Objections to a proposed witness or exhibit that have not been resolved
among counsel shall be filed with the Court no later than three (3) days prior to trial. Such
objections shall include a brief statement setting forth reasoning why the proposed witness or exhibit
should not be permitted or admitted, as well as specific citations to pertinent case law or other legal
authority.
7. Continuances
No party shall be granted a continuance of a trial or hearing without a written motion from
the party or counsel stating the reason for the continuance. The continuance must be endorsed in
writing by all parties and their lead counsel of record. The parties must propose no less than three (3)
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alternative dates for both the final pretrial and trial that are agreeable to all participants. The Court
will not consider any motion for a continuance due to a conflict of trial assignment dates unless a
copy of the conflicting assignment is attached thereto.
8. Electronic Courtroom
Any party that wishes to familiarize themselves with the presentation equipment and other
technology available for use in the courtroom prior to trial, should contact the Courtroom Deputy at
216-357-7240 no later than one week before trial to schedule a time to visit the courtroom. If the
party will require technological assistance with any of the equipment, they should also contact the
Court’s technology advisors to ensure that someone will be available during the scheduled time to
assist with the set-up and use of any equipment, or any other technological issues that may arise.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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