COURTROOM PROCEDURES
Judge Theodore
E. Sims
Courtroom 426J
Washington County Circuit Court
I.
Communicating with the Judge and Staff
·
Communication
with Judge Sims’ staff can be done via phone,
email (preferred), or
hand delivery.
·
Deliveries
should be made to the Judicial Assistant, Room 427J. If no
one answers the door, the delivery may be slipped under the door, or may be
delivered to the clerk in Courtroom 426J.
·
Please
do not deliver originals to our office, unless otherwise specified in the
rules. Originals should either be filed electronically or with the staff.
·
Judge Sims
prefers that courtesy copies be emailed to his Judicial Assistant (in Word format for jury instructions and
verdict forms).
·
Most communications should be directed to his
staff with copies to opposing counsel.
II.
General Courtroom Procedures
·
Cell
phones must be silenced in the courtroom.
·
No
food, drink or gum is allowed (except for water bottles).
·
Unless otherwise
instructed by courtroom staff, parties should stand at the beginning of each
court session and, in jury trials, when the jury enters and leaves the
courtroom.
·
Permission is not
required to move around the courtroom when questioning witnesses.
·
Contact court
staff in advance of a hearing or trial to discuss technology issues and
availability of court equipment.
·
Court proceedings
are recorded digitally, so if you are not close to a microphone your voice may
not be clearly picked up by the recording system..
·
Misdemeanor / Felony / Civil trials begin at 9:00am
Usually 2 breaks – 1 morning /1 afternoon
Lunch break is usually from Noon - 1:30 pm
·
Courtroom
doors will be locked when court is not in session.
III.
Pretrial procedures
·
Parties
must submit jury instructions, verdict forms and a neutral statement of the case (in civil cases), trial memoranda,
motions to suppress, and motions in limine to the Judicial Assistant by noon
the business day before trial.
·
Please also email
your requested jury instructions and verdict forms in Word format to Judge Sims’
staff.
·
Provide
witness and exhibit lists no later than the morning of trial. Witness names will be read to the panel as
part of jury selection. Exhibits should
be premarked.
·
Counsel
are expected to confer and stipulate to the pre trial admission of exhibits whenever
possible. Only exhibits agreed to or
allowed by the court may be used in opening statements.
IV.
Trial procedures
·
The clerk will
provide you with a list of the prospective jurors prior to voir dire, and staff will provide attorneys with the jury seating
chart and will explain where jurors will be seated.
·
Please ask your voir
dire questions to the jury panel as a whole, with follow-up questions to
individual jurors as necessary. Jurors will verbally give answers to standard questions on a sheet passed through the panel before attorneys begin questioning.
·
Juror
challenges for cause are to be addressed during questioning, and before passing
the panel for cause. Peremptory
challenges are done using paper slips supplied by court staff.
·
Judge
Sims generally informs alternate jurors that they are alternates. Please notify
court staff if you anticipate the need for alternate jurors so that sufficient jurors are available.
·
Juror questions
are generally only permitted by agreement of both parties.
·
All
known or anticipated legal issues, including evidentiary issues, should be
addressed before jury selection. We try
to keep juror ‘dead time’ to a minimum.
·
Please confer
with opposing counsel and review the files of their experts during breaks in
the trial before those experts are called to testify.
·
At
the end of the trial, instructions are ordinarily given before the case is
argued to the jury.