Judge: Mark H. Epstein, Case: BC664654, Date: 2023-10-05 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: BC664654    Hearing Date: October 5, 2023    Dept: I

The court is in receipt of the following materials on September 28, 2023.

Exhibit List.  The list appears proper, but the court has a question.  Under the “# PAGES” column, many entries seem to have numbers of over 800.  The court believes that those are Bates Numbers, not the number of pages in the exhibit.  A quick note at the top should take care of that problem.  If, on the other hand, there are really over 800 pages in an exhibit, that will be a problem.  If a note at the top solves the problem, the parties ought to draft it and get it in today.  The court will, in its minute order, note that resolution so that the matter will not be delayed.

Plaintiff’s Deposition Chart.  The chart appears proper assuming that defendant is not planning to introduce any deposition testimony other than for impeachment.

Plaintiff’s Special Verdict.  This is a very long form (95 pages), but it does not appear to be improper.  The court is unsure whether Department 1 will accept it, but the court will not order that it be redone.

Jury Instructions.  The list appears proper, but the instructions do not seem to appear.  The actual instructions in proper format will be needed.  It could be that those instructions and groupings exist but were just not filed in the recent batch.  The court will inquire.  Department 1 will require the jury instructions to be done per Rule, which means not only the list, but also a group of agreed instructions (perhaps with some minor wording differences pointed out, but only if very minor); a group of proposed instructions by plaintiff to which defendant objects; and a group of proposed instructions by defendant to which plaintiff objects.  The court also assumes that the proposed instructions are on the proper form, meaning that there is the header and (where not a CACI instruction) the proper authority.  The court believes that the actual instructions can be submitted to Department 1 directly, but that must be done quickly because Department 1 will not deem the matter ready absent the physical instructions in proper format.

The court assumes that the foregoing documents replace the like documents filed on August 3, 2023.

On August 3, 2023, the court received the following other documents:

Plaintiff’s Trial Brief.  This appears proper.

Plaintiff’s Proposed Juror Questionnaire.  This appears proper.  The court will inquire as to whether the parties have met and conferred on this.

Joint Statement of Special Issues.  This appears proper.

Joint Witness List.  This appears proper.

Joint Short Statement of the Case.  This appears proper.

Defendant’s Special Verdict Form.  This appears proper.  The court will inquire whether the parties have met and conferred on the verdict form.

Defendant’s Trial Brief.  This appears proper.

In short, this matter might be ready to go to Department 1 for long cause determination, depending on the answers to the questions above.  The court hopes that it is and that the matter can be brought to a speedy trial in a long cause department.