Ohta Chambers Civil Rules; Ohta Chambers Criminal Rules

=== Ohta Chambers Civil Rules ===

Honorable Jinsook Ohta United States District Judge Civil Chambers Rules Motions, Pretrial, and Trial Procedures For questions regarding filing or docketing, contact: the Clerk’s Office at 619-557-5600, the CM/ECF Helpline at 866-233-7983, or the CASD CM/ECF Helpdesk at [email protected]. - - - For criminal or courtroom technology matters, contact Steven Yaptangco, Courtroom Deputy, at 619-557-7486. For civil hearing dates only, leave a voicemail message with chambers at 619-321-0988. Your call will be returned on or before the next business day. Be aware of meet and confer requirements below prior to obtaining a hearing date. Do not wait until the filing deadline to leave a message requesting a hearing date. For trial or hearing transcript requests, contact Cristine Gerongco, Court Reporter, at [email protected] or 619-786-6537. Unless otherwise specified by the Court, counsel and pro se litigants are expected to follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Civil Local Rules for the Southern District of California (the “Civil Local Rules”), the Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual (the “ECF Manual”), and any other applicable rules. The Civil Local Rules and the ECF Manual are available on the District Court’s website. Failure to comply with the applicable Orders and rules may result in the Court striking non-compliant documents from the record, imposing sanctions under Civil Local Rule 83.1, or both. I. Communications with Chambers A. Letters or emails. Letters or emails to chambers or chambers staff are prohibited unless required by Local Rule or specifically requested by the Court. If requested by the Court, letters or emails shall copy simultaneously all counsel and unrepresented parties. Copies of correspondence between counsel must not be sent to the Court unless requested by the Court. B. Telephone Calls. Telephone calls to chambers are permitted only for obtaining a hearing date for a civil motion, temporary restraining order, or preliminary injunction. Parties seeking a motion date for a noticed motion may contact chambers if (1) they are ready to file within two calendar days and (2) have satisfied the meet and confer requirements set forth below. Such calls may only be made by counsel with knowledge of the case or an unrepresented party. Calls from secretaries, legal assistants, paralegals, or parties represented by counsel are prohibited. Please be aware that all requests for court action must be made in a filing on the docket. Counsel or unrepresented parties should not call chambers with procedural questions; to inquire whether any action has been taken on a motion or other filing; or to request extension of deadlines or changes to hearing dates and/or times. Court personnel will not give legal advice, discuss the Civil Chambers Rules 1 Revised April 6, 2026 timing or merits of a case, or pass on any ex parte requests that should be made by court filing to the Judge. Requests regarding access to courtroom technology prior to a hearing should be directed to Courtroom Deputy Steven Yaptangco at [email protected]. 619-557-7486 email by or at C. Courtesy Copies. Unless otherwise requested by the Court, do not deliver any paper courtesy copies to the Court. II. Noticed Motions. A. Conference of Counsel Prior to Filing Noticed Motions. Unless one of the below exceptions applies, any party contemplating the filing of any noticed motion before this Court must first contact opposing counsel to discuss thoroughly the substance of the contemplated motion and attempt to resolve the matter informally. For example, a party desiring to file a Rule 12(b)(6) motion shall meet and confer to determine the feasibility of stipulating to an amended complaint that resolves the moving party’s concerns. The conference must take place by telephone or in person at least seven (7) days prior to the filing of the motion. If the parties are unable to reach a resolution that eliminates the need to file the motion, counsel for the moving party must include in the motion papers a declaration detailing (1) the date of the meet and confer; (2) counsel’s good faith efforts, in person or by telephone, to meet and confer to resolve differences with opposing counsel; and (3) the positions taken by opposing counsel such that resolution was not possible. Parties will not obtain a hearing date until they have satisfied this meet and confer requirement. Any motions filed in violation of these requirements may be stricken. Failure to meet and confer in good faith will result in the Court issuing an order to show cause why sanctions should not be issued. The only exceptions to this meet-and-confer requirement are (1) cases where any party is appearing pro se and is not an attorney and (2) applications for temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions. Ex parte applications, which have separate requirements below, and joint motions are exempt from this rule as they are not noticed motions. B. Proposed Orders. Proposed orders must be submitted simultaneously with all motions. Proposed orders should contain “[PROPOSED]” in brackets in the caption. This Chambers Rule mandating the addition of “[PROPOSED]” supersedes Section 2(h) of the ECF Manual. Counsel must to [email protected] and include the case number and case name in the subject line of the email. Proposed orders or other documents requiring the Judge’s signature must not be filed on the docket. in Word proposed format orders (.doc) email C. Briefing. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, upon the filing of a motion, any opposition brief(s) must be filed within three weeks of the noticed motion. Any reply brief(s) must be filed within two weeks of the opposition brief. This briefing schedule supersedes the briefing schedule set forth by Civil Local Rule 7.1(e). If multiple parties are moving for substantially the same relief or opposing a motion seeking substantially the same relief against them, they must make every effort to coordinate the timing of the filing of their motions, and to coordinate and Civil Chambers Rules 2 Revised April 6, 2026 consolidate the briefing to avoid duplication in briefing. Parties may file a notice of joinder to another party’s papers in support of or in opposition to a motion. D. Exhibits & Unreported Cases. All exhibits submitted in support of motions should be excerpted to include only relevant material. All exhibits must be clearly labeled, dated, tabbed, and indexed. Copies of documents already contained on the electronic docket in any United States district court should not be included as exhibits. Such documents should be cited in the text of the motion with the case name, docket number, filing date, and any other information (e.g., pages or paragraph numbers) that aids the Court (e.g., Doe v. Does, No. 22cv306 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 13, 2022), Dkt. __ at __). For cases not assigned to a reporter for publication, Westlaw or Lexis citations should be given, if available. Citations to cases not available in Westlaw or Lexis should be accompanied by copies of the cases cited attached as exhibits. III. Ex parte Motions Before filing any ex parte motion, counsel must contact the opposing party to meet and confer regarding the subject of the ex parte motion. All ex parte motions must be accompanied by a declaration from the movant documenting (1) efforts to contact opposing counsel, (2) counsel’s good faith efforts, in person or by telephone, to meet and confer to resolve differences with opposing counsel, and (3) opposing counsel’s position regarding the ex parte motion. Any ex parte motion filed with the Court must be served on opposing counsel via email, or overnight mail. Ex parte motions that are not opposed within two (2) Court days will be considered unopposed and may be granted on that ground. After receipt, moving and opposing ex parte papers will be reviewed and a decision will be made without a hearing. If the Court decides to hear oral argument, the Court will issue an order setting the date and time for oral argument. IV. Temporary Restraining Orders All motions for temporary restraining orders must be briefed. While temporary restraining orders may be heard ex parte, the Court will do so only in extraordinary circumstances. V. Continuances Parties requesting a continuance of any conference, scheduled motion, hearing date, deadline, briefing schedule, or any other procedural change must meet and confer prior to contacting the Court. If the parties reach an agreement, they must file a joint motion with a declaration explaining the reasons for the requested continuance or extension of time. The parties must also email a proposed order in Word (.doc) format to [email protected]. See Civil Chambers Rule II.B. The proposed order must set forth the currently scheduled date and the new, proposed date. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the requesting party must file an ex parte motion demonstrating satisfaction of the applicable legal standard. Such a motion should be filed at least two (2) Court days prior to the event or deadline that the moving party seeks to continue. Civil Chambers Rules 3 Revised April 6, 2026 VI. Protective Orders and Requests to File Under Seal The public enjoys a presumptive right of public access to court records based upon the First Amendment and the common law; therefore, motions to file documents under seal are strongly discouraged. The fact that both sides agree to seal a document is insufficient cause for sealing. Motions based solely on a party’s designation of a document as “confidential” or “attorneys’ eyes only” under a stipulated protective order are insufficient to establish that a document, or portions thereof, are sealable. As such, motions to seal must be narrowly tailored to the documents or portions of documents which require protection for good cause in accordance with legal standards. Parties shall not request the wholesale sealing of documents where only portions require protection. Sealing motions must include the following: 1. A specific statement of the applicable legal standard and the reasons for keeping a document under seal, including an explanation of a. the legitimate private or public interests that warrant sealing; b. the injury that will result if sealing is denied; and c. why a less restrictive alternative to sealing is not sufficient; 2. Evidentiary support from declarations where necessary; 3. An unredacted version of the document(s) sought to be sealed, with highlights to the alleged confidential or privilege information, as an attachment to the motion with “FILED UNDER SEAL” prominently marked on the first page; and 4. A proposed order that only seals the sealable material, and which lists in table format each document or portion thereof that is sought to be sealed. The party requesting a sealing order must also file a “public” version of the document(s) it seeks to file under seal redacting only the alleged confidential or privileged information. If the moving party seeks an order to seal the document in full, the party should file a slip sheet making clear for the Court that the document is subject to the motion to seal. Motions to seal entire pleadings or briefs are strongly disfavored and will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances. VII. Settlement If the parties settle a case, counsel must immediately notify this Court and the magistrate judge. Unless a notice of dismissal is filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1) for which a court order is not required, the parties must file a joint motion to dismiss and email the proposed order to the Court within twenty-eight (28) days of the settlement. VIII. Pretrial Conference Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 16.1(f)(6), the Court requires that the parties lodge by email to [email protected] a proposed pretrial order at least seven (7) days before the pretrial conference. The proposed pretrial order must comply with the requirements of Civil Local Rule 16.1(f)(6)(c). All parties are required to cooperate in completing the proposed pretrial order. Civil Chambers Rules 4 Revised April 6, 2026 IX. Motions in limine Motions in limine are those limited in scope to evidentiary issues. Daubert motions, motions for judgment on the pleadings, summary judgment, leave to amend, or to bifurcate are not proper in limine motions. Prior to filing motions in limine, counsel must meet and confer and discuss their intended motions, in an attempt to resolve issues without court intervention. Counsel must confirm their good faith attempt to resolve the issues in a declaration that includes (1) the date of the meet and confer; (2) counsel’s good faith efforts, in person or by telephone, to resolve differences with opposing counsel; and (3) the positions taken by opposing counsel such that resolution was not possible. Failure to meet and confer in good faith will result in the Court issuing an order to show cause why sanctions should not be issued. Unless the Court grants permission otherwise, each side is limited to five motions in limine and the motions and the responses to the motions will not exceed five pages. No replies to motions in limine are permitted. X. Trial A. Jury Selection. Unless authorized by the Court, parties should not submit jury questionnaires. The courtroom deputy will provide counsel with a list of the jury panel in random order before voir dire. The courtroom deputy will seat all prospective jurors (32 prospective jurors will generally be summoned for civil cases). The Court will conduct the initial jury voir dire. In appropriate cases, the Court may permit follow-up voir dire by the attorneys. B. Trial Exhibits. In preparing trial exhibits, the parties should contact the Clerk’s Office or the courtroom deputy for exhibit stickers. Parties may use their own exhibit stickers if the stickers include the exhibit number and case number. Civil trials must only use numbers for identifying exhibits and not letters, unless otherwise ordered by the Court. For both bench trials and jury trials, the parties must submit one (1) courtesy copy of the trial exhibits at least three (3) days before trial begins. Counsel should contact the courtroom deputy to arrange a time to deliver the courtesy copies. The parties must also submit the trial exhibits in an electronic-media format (e.g., a USB flash drive) at least three (3) days before trial. The parties must also exchange their Final Exhibit and Witness Lists fourteen (14) days to their Final Exhibit and Witness Lists trial and email a copy of before [email protected] fourteen (14) days before trial. C. Jury Instructions. In advance of trial, the Court will issue a minute order that directs the parties to meet and confer to create proposed jury instructions and sets the submission deadline. The parties’ proposed instructions must meet the following requirements: 1. The parties are required to jointly submit one set of agreed upon instructions. To Civil Chambers Rules 5 Revised April 6, 2026 this end, the parties must meet and confer on their proposed jury instructions, and thereafter submit to the Court one complete set of proposed instructions consisting of 1) preliminary jury instructions; 2) during trial jury instructions; and 3) final jury instructions. All instruction headings must identify whether the instruction is jointly proposed or, if disputed, the party proposing the instruction. For example, if the parties agree on a Duty of the Jury instruction, the parties shall submit one instruction titled “Jointly Proposed Instruction No. 1 (Duty of the Jury).” However, if the parties cannot agree on, for example, a Circumstantial Evidence instruction, the parties shall each create their own version of the instruction, and the versions of the instruction will be titled “Defendant’s Proposed Jury Instruction No. 13 (Circumstantial Evidence)” or “Plaintiff’s Proposed Jury Instruction No. 13 (Circumstantial Evidence).” Requirements for disputed instructions are discussed in more detail in Section 4 below. The Court prefers that parties utilize pattern instructions such as the Ninth Circuit Model Instructions or California Civil Jury Instructions (“CACI Instructions”) whenever possible. 2. All instructions, disputed or jointly proposed, should identify the source material of the instruction beneath the instruction’s heading. For example, if the parties submit a jointly proposed Duty of the Jury instruction, immediately below that heading would be “Ninth Circuit Model Instruction 1.3.” 3. For all jointly proposed instructions, please indicate any stipulated modifications to the Ninth Circuit Model Instructions and CACI Instructions using redline and strikethroughs in red. 4. For all disputed instructions, the parties will prepare their respective proposed instruction and submit both proposals in the one set submitted to the Court. The text of the disputed instructions shall be color-coded as follows a. Model Instruction Text: black ink b. Stipulated Modifications to Model Instructions: red ink c. Plaintiff’s Proposed Edits or Additions: blue ink d. Defendant’s Proposed Edits or Additions: green ink 5. For each disputed instruction, the parties must provide to the Court the factual or legal basis for each party’s position. 6. As discussed above, if the parties propose different versions of the same instruction, each version of the disputed instruction shall comply with the color coding above. For example, Plaintiff’s version of a Circumstantial Evidence instruction will be titled “Plaintiff’s Proposed Jury Instruction No. 13 (Circumstantial Evidence)” and the disputed text will be in blue ink, and Defendant’s version of the instruction will be titled “Defendant’s Proposed Jury Instruction No. 13 (Circumstantial Evidence)” with edits in green ink. These competing versions of the same instruction should be placed one after another in the one set of proposed instructions submitted to the Court. 7. The proposed instructions should be ordered and submitted, to the best of the parties’ ability, in the order in which the Court will give them at trial. Civil Chambers Rules 6 Revised April 6, 2026 8. The parties shall jointly email one complete set of proposed instructions that includes both the jointly proposed and disputed instructions for the 1) preliminary jury instructions; 2) during to instructions; and 3) [email protected] by the deadline set by the Court. instructions final trial jury jury 9. Before the case is submitted to the jury, the Court will provide each party with the jury instructions the Court intends to use. It is each party’s responsibility to carefully review the instructions and make suggestions to the Court if modifications appear necessary. D. Trial Schedule. Trial generally proceeds from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, unless the Court schedules otherwise. Jury deliberations also generally proceed from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., unless the Court schedules otherwise. E. Trial Procedures. In civil trials, it is the practice of the Court to set a reasonable time limit for the entire trial. The time limit set by the Court includes opening statements, arguments, testimony, closing arguments, and any other matters that occur over the course of the trial, excluding jury selection. The Court will keep track of time limits, and upon request, the courtroom deputy will inform the parties of the time spent and remaining for trial. Lawyers must make every effort to have their witness available on the day the witness is to testify. The Court attempts to accommodate witnesses’ schedules and may permit counsel to call them out of sequence if warranted. Counsel must anticipate any such possibility and discuss it with opposing counsel and the Court. Counsel must promptly alert the Court to any scheduling problems involving witnesses. Counsel should not enter the well, except during voir dire, opening statements, and closing argument. Counsel should conduct all examination of witnesses from the podium, seek permission from the Court before approaching a witness, and keep any visit to the witness stand brief, e.g., by quickly orienting the witness with an exhibit and returning to the podium. When objecting, counsel should state only the legal ground for the objection (e.g., “objection, hearsay”). Speaking objections are not permitted unless the Court requests further information from counsel. When a party has more than one lawyer, only one lawyer may conduct the examination of a given witness. Civil Chambers Rules 7 Revised April 6, 2026

=== Ohta Chambers Criminal Rules ===

Honorable Jinsook Ohta United States District Judge Criminal Chambers Rules Motions, Pretrial, and Trial Procedures For questions regarding filing or docketing, contact: - - - the Clerk’s Office at 619-557-5600, the CM/ECF Helpline at 866-233-7983, or the CASD CM/ECF Helpdesk at [email protected]. For criminal or courtroom technology matters, contact Steven Yaptangco, Courtroom Deputy, at 619-557-7486. For trial or hearing transcript requests, contact Cristine Gerongco, Court Reporter, at [email protected] or 619-786-6537. Unless otherwise specified by the Court, counsel and pro se litigants are expected to follow the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Criminal Local Rules for the Southern District of California (the “Criminal Local Rules”), the Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual (the “ECF Manual”), and any other applicable rules. The Criminal Local Rules and the ECF Manual are available on the District Court’s website. Failure to comply with the applicable Orders and rules may result in the Court striking non-compliant documents from the record, imposing sanctions under Criminal Local Rule 57.1, or both. I. Communications with Chambers A. Letters or Emails. Letters or emails to chambers or chambers staff are prohibited unless required by Local Rule or specifically requested by the Court. If requested by the Court, letters or emails shall copy simultaneously all counsel and unrepresented parties. Copies of correspondence between counsel must not be sent to the Court unless requested by the Court. B. Telephone Calls. For docketing, scheduling, and calendaring matters, contact at at Courtroom Deputy [email protected]. Court personnel are prohibited from giving legal advice or discussing the timing or merits of a case. Steven Yaptangco 619-557-7486 email by or C. Requests for Continuances. If counsel stipulate to a continuance, a joint motion should be filed on the CM/ECF docket, and a proposed order should be emailed to [email protected]. See Criminal Chambers Rule I.D. Joint motions to continue must be filed before 9:00 a.m. on the Wednesday morning prior to the scheduled hearing. If a joint motion is untimely filed, counsel will appear in person to request a continuance at the scheduled hearing. The joint motion should include the original hearing date, the requested date for continuance (obtained from the courtroom deputy before filing), the grounds for continuance, and the number of prior continuances that have been granted. If applicable, the joint motion should include a request for exclusion of time under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161, and include Criminal Chambers Rules 1 Revised August 7, 2025 specific legal and factual bases for the exclusion. Counsel’s stipulation to exclusion, on its own, is insufficient to support the exclusion of time. D. Proposed Orders. Proposed orders must be submitted simultaneously with all motions. Proposed orders should contain the word “[PROPOSED]” in brackets in the caption. This Chambers Rule mandating the addition of the word “[PROPOSED]” supersedes Section 2(h) of the ECF Manual. Counsel must email proposed orders in Word (.doc) format to [email protected] and include the case number and case name in the subject line of the email. Proposed orders or other documents requiring the Judge’s signature must not be filed on the docket. II. Motions A. Sealed motions and protective orders. The public enjoys a presumptive right of public access to court records based upon the First Amendment and common law; therefore, motions to file documents under seal are strongly discouraged. Counsel lodging with the Court a motion to seal and documents to be sealed shall hand- deliver, to the Clerk of Court on the Fourth Floor of the James M. Carter & Judith N. Keep U.S. Courthouse, (1) the motion to seal, (2) the proposed sealed documents, and (3) a proposed order in compliance with these Rules. In the case of an emergent motion to seal, counsel will contact the courtroom deputy for instructions about alternate delivery. As a general rule, motions to seal and motions for protective order should not be hand-delivered to chambers. B. Notice to Court of Disposition. Any time a case is calendared for motions hearing and counsel for either party knows that a disposition is to take place, counsel has a duty to call the courtroom deputy at the earliest available time to inform the Court of the disposition. III. Dispositions and Sentencings A. Dispositions. Generally, Rule 11 guilty pleas may be taken by the magistrate judge on a report and recommendation. The Court encourages pleas before the magistrate judge assigned to the case. Rule 11 proceedings before the district judge may occur at the pretrial motion hearing or as soon as scheduled by contacting the courtroom deputy in advance. B. Immediate Sentencing. The Court prefers that a presentence report be prepared in every case for sentencing. Upon stipulation filed by both parties and joint request made by motion on the docket or by request to the courtroom deputy, the Court may proceed with immediate sentencing in certain immigration cases if it has adequate information in the record to perform a meaningful exercise of sentencing authority. C. Sentencing. A party seeking a continuance of a sentencing hearing must notify the courtroom deputy at the earliest possible time, but no later than noon on the Thursday prior to the following week’s sentencing date. Counsel shall file a sentencing summary chart at a minimum, and may also file a sentencing memorandum, no later than seven days before the Criminal Chambers Rules 2 Revised August 7, 2025 sentencing hearing as required in Criminal Local Rule 32.1(a)(9). Holidays are excluded when calculating time. No party shall submit more than five sentencing letters without leave of Court. Late filings are unacceptable. All counsel are hereby advised that the filing dates set forth in Criminal Local Rule 32.1 are critical. Absent a showing of good cause, any late filings by counsel may result in a continuance, at minimum. Please be advised that the Court will keep track of such occurrences, and any counsel that repeatedly fails to abide by the timing requirements set forth in Criminal Local Rule 32.1 will be subject to possible fine or other punitive action by the Court pursuant to Criminal Local Rule 57.1. IV. Pre-Trial and Trial Procedures A. Discovery Cutoff and Expert Disclosure Deadlines. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, all discovery, including reciprocal discovery and expert discovery, must be completed three weeks before trial. Unless jointly stipulated otherwise, any evidence not disclosed by that date will be excluded. The parties will meet and confer to agree upon Fed. R. Crim. P. Rule 16 expert disclosure dates with the understanding that discovery obligations on both sides must be completed by the discovery cutoff. Unless otherwise jointly stipulated, the first exchange of expert disclosure will take place five weeks before trial and any exchange of rebuttal experts will take place three weeks before trial. If earlier deadlines are required due to the complexity of the case or other reasons, the party seeking to use expert testimony in its trial will have the burden of initiating the meet and confer and either making sure that an agreement is reached or raising the matter with the Court. B. Motions in limine. The Court will generally schedule a hearing date for motions in limine in advance of trial. Unless otherwise ordered, motions in limine are due two weeks before the hearing, with any opposition due one week before the hearing. No replies are permitted unless requested by the Court. Each side is limited to five motions in limine. Prior to filing motions in limine, counsel must meet and confer and discuss their intended motions, in an attempt to resolve issues without court intervention. Counsel must confirm their good faith attempt to resolve the issues in a declaration that includes (1) the date of the meet and confer; (2) counsel’s good faith efforts, in person or by telephone, to resolve differences with opposing counsel; and (3) the positions taken by opposing counsel such that resolution was not possible. The parties may memorialize any issues that they have resolved through meet and confer in a stipulation or in a separate filing. In their motions in limine, parties should only raise specific and ripe disputes that require resolution by the Court prior to trial because the parties have not been able to reach an agreement. Parties should not file motions in limine to deal with scenarios “if,” “in case,” or “to the extent” the other side engages in certain conduct or seeks the admission of certain evidence. Instead, the parties should meet and confer and ascertain whether the other side intends to take a certain position, try to resolve that issue, and only raise the issue if the parties cannot agree. Failure to meet and confer in good faith before bringing motions in limine—for example when a party brings a motion in limine challenging a certain course of action and the other side states in its opposition Criminal Chambers Rules 3 Revised August 7, 2025 that it is not planning to engage in that course of action—will result in the Court issuing an order to show cause for why sanctions should not be issued against the moving party. C. Jury Instructions. Jury instructions shall be submitted to the Court two weeks before trial in the following format: 1. The parties are required to jointly submit one set of agreed upon instructions. To this end, the parties must meet and confer on their proposed jury instructions, and thereafter submit to the Court one complete set of proposed instructions consisting of 1) preliminary jury instructions; 2) during trial jury instructions; and 3) final jury instructions. All instruction headings must identify whether the instruction is jointly proposed or, if disputed, the party proposing the instruction. For example, if the parties agree on a Duty of the Jury instruction, the parties shall submit one instruction titled “Jointly Proposed Instruction No. 1 (Duty of the Jury).” However, if the parties cannot agree on, for example, a Circumstantial Evidence instruction, the parties shall each create their own version of the instruction, and the versions of the instruction will be titled “Defendant’s Proposed Jury Instruction No. 13 (Circumstantial Evidence)” or “Government’s Proposed Jury Instruction No. 13 (Circumstantial Evidence).” Requirements for disputed instructions are discussed in more detail in Section 4 below. The Court prefers that parties utilize pattern instructions such as the Ninth Circuit Model Instructions or California Criminal Jury Instructions whenever possible. 2. All instructions, disputed or jointly proposed, should identify the source material of the instruction beneath the instruction’s heading. For example, if the parties submit a jointly proposed Duty of the Jury instruction, immediately below that heading would be “Ninth Circuit Model Instruction 1.3.” 3. For all jointly proposed instructions, please indicate any stipulated modifications to the Ninth Circuit Model Instructions and California Criminal Jury Instructions using redline and strikethroughs in red. 4. For all disputed instructions, the parties will prepare their respective proposed instruction and submit both proposals in the one set submitted to the Court. The text of the disputed instructions shall be color-coded as follows a. Model Instruction Text: black ink b. Stipulated Modifications to Model Instructions: red ink c. Government’s Proposed Edits or Additions: blue ink d. Defendant’s Proposed Edits or Additions: green ink 5. For each disputed instruction, the parties must provide the Court the factual or legal basis for each party’s position. 6. As discussed above, if the parties propose different versions of the same instruction, each version of the disputed instruction shall comply with the color coding above. For example, the Government’s version of a Circumstantial Evidence instruction will be titled “Government’s Proposed Jury Instruction No. 13 (Circumstantial Evidence)”and the disputed text will be in blue Criminal Chambers Rules 4 Revised August 7, 2025 ink, and Defendant’s version of the instruction will be titled “Defendant’s Proposed Jury Instruction No. 13 (Circumstantial Evidence)” with edits in green ink. These competing versions of the same instruction should be placed one after another in the one set of proposed instructions submitted to the Court. 7. The proposed instructions should be ordered and submitted, to the best of the parties’ ability, in the order in which the Court will give them at trial. 8. The parties shall jointly email one complete set of proposed instructions that includes both the jointly proposed and disputed instructions for the 1) preliminary jury instructions; 2) during trial jury instructions; and 3) final jury instructions to [email protected] by the deadline set by the Court. 9. Before the case is submitted to the jury, the Court will provide each party with the jury instructions the Court intends to use. It is each party’s responsibility to carefully review the instructions and make suggestions to the Court if modifications appear necessary. D. Trial Briefs. Pursuant to Criminal Local Rule 23.1, the parties may, no later than two weeks before the date of trial, serve and file briefs on all significant disputed issues of law, including foreseeable procedural and evidentiary issues. E. Proposed Voir Dire Questions, Verdict Forms and Government’s Witness List. Counsel must serve and file any proposed voir dire questions, proposed verdict forms, and the government’s list of witnesses no later than two weeks before the date of trial. F. Jury Selection. The courtroom deputy will provide counsel with a numerical list of the jury panel at the start of voir dire, along with a seating chart. The Court will conduct the initial jury voir dire. On a case-by-case basis, the Court may permit follow-up voir dire by the attorneys. After the Court and counsel complete voir dire of the panel, counsel may exercise challenges for cause outside the presence of the prospective jurors. The exercise of peremptory challenges follows. Counsel will exercise alternating peremptory challenges outside the presence of the prospective jurors. G. Presentation of Evidence. The following rules apply: Do not enter the well, except during voir dire, opening statement, and closing argument. Conduct all examinations of witnesses from the podium. Feel free to approach witnesses during examination, but first seek permission from the Court. Please keep your visit to the witness stand brief, e.g., by quickly orienting a witness with an exhibit and returning to the podium. Where a party has more than one lawyer, only one lawyer may conduct the examination of a given witness and that lawyer alone may make objections concerning that witness. When objecting, state only the legal ground for the objection, e.g., “Objection, hearsay.” Criminal Chambers Rules 5 Revised August 7, 2025 Speaking objections are not permitted unless the Court requests further information from counsel. H. Bench Conferences. Sidebar conferences are disfavored. If counsel desires to speak to the Court outside the jury’s presence, counsel may request to do so at the start of a recess or at the end of the day. Requests for sidebar conference will only be granted if the matter cannot wait until the next recess. I. Exhibits. Government counsel must provide a list of exhibits and give it to the courtroom deputy on the first day of trial. All exhibits must be pre-marked on the first day of trial. Exhibit stickers may be obtained from the Clerk of the Court or from the courtroom deputy in advance of trial. Before publishing an exhibit to the jury, counsel must either move for admission of the exhibit or allow the Court to inquire whether the opposing side has any objection to publication. When referring to an exhibit, counsel should refer to its exhibit number whenever possible to keep a complete record. If an exhibit is being used and counsel’s view is obstructed, counsel may relocate for better viewing without requesting permission from the Court. Pursuant to Criminal Local Rule 1.1(e) and Civil Local Rule 79.1, all exhibits will be returned to the party who produced them at the end of trial. J. Trial Schedule. Generally, trials are scheduled Monday to Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the first day and from 8:30 to 3:30 p.m. on each subsequent day. The Court will notify the parties of deviations from this schedule. Criminal Chambers Rules 6 Revised August 7, 2025