Modoc Superior Court Document Format Requirements

CRITICAL

Unless the court orders otherwise, a motion for discovery in a criminal case must be in writing.

Unless otherwise ordered, a motion in a criminal case for the discovery of information or evidence must be in writing

CRITICAL

All briefs filed with the Appellate Division must be bound on the top, with covers in colors as designated by California Rules of Court, rule 8.40(a).

All briefs filed with the Appellate Division must be bound on the top, with covers in colors as designated by California Rules of Court, rule 8.40(a).

CRITICAL

An ex parte application for an order shortening time must comply with Local Rule 3.03.

Any ex parte application to the Court for an order shortening time must comply with Local Rule 3.03.

CRITICAL

Unless otherwise ordered or provided by law, pretrial motions must be written, include a memorandum of points and authorities, and comply with the cited California Rules of Court requirements.

Unless otherwise ordered or specifically provided by law, all pretrial motions must be in writing and must be accompanied by a memorandum of points & authorities. All such motions and supporting documents, opposition papers, and the hearings thereon must comply with Rule 4.111 of the California Rules of Court. The form and format of all motions, and supporting or opposition documents, must be as required by the California Rules of Court and, specifically, CRC Rules 2.100-2.119.

CRITICAL

Every request for judicial notice must comply with California Rules of Court Rule 3.1306.

Every request to take judicial notice must comply with Rule 3.1306 of the California Rules of Court.

CRITICAL

Applies to

Exhibits

When a party has more than ten exhibits to enter in evidence at a hearing, all exhibits must be pre-marked before the hearing and accompanied by an ordered cover sheet with space for the clerk to record each exhibit’s status.

In any case where a party has in excess of ten (10) exhibits to enter in evidence at a hearing, the party or attorney must arrange to have all exhibits pre-marked prior to the hearing, and the exhibits must be accompanied by a cover sheet for the clerk that identifies the nature of each exhibit in order, and provides a place for the clerk to mark, “admitted”, “withdrawn” or “excluded” after each marked exhibit.

CRITICAL

Responses to specific discovery requests must be in writing.

Any response to a specific request also must be in writing

CRITICAL

Photographs submitted to the Mediator must be photocopied on white letter-sized paper.

All photographs submitted to the Mediator must be photocopied on 8–1/2 x 11-inch white paper

CRITICAL

Papers supporting or opposing a motion or other application must comply with the specified California Rules of Court, and noncompliance may result in denial of relief or disregard of the papers.

All papers filed in support of or in opposition to a motion or other application for an order must comply with Rules 3.110-3.115, and Rules 2.100-2.119, of the California Rules of Court. Failure to comply with those Rules may, in the Court's discretion, constitute a sufficient basis for the Court to deny relief or to otherwise disregard the papers filed. This paragraph is not intended to diminish the Court's authority to exercise its discretion in any other appropriate manner.

CRITICAL

A request for money sanctions must be made in writing upon advance notice, except when the Court acts on its own motion, for which written notice is not required.

Any request for money sanctions must be made upon advance notice, in writing, unless ordered on the Court's own motion, in which case notice need not be in writing.

CRITICAL

A document filed through a fax filing agent must be on plain, not thermal, paper.

3. By Filing through FAX Filing Agent. Filing through an agent pursuant to full compliance with CRC Rules 2.300-2.306, and if the document is on plain paper, not thermal paper.

CRITICAL

Applies to

Exhibits

When a party has more than ten trial exhibits, all exhibits must be pre-marked before trial and accompanied by an ordered cover sheet with space for the clerk to record each exhibit’s status.

In any case where a party has in excess of ten (10) exhibits to enter in evidence at a trial, the party or attorney must arrange to have all exhibits pre-marked prior to the trial, and the exhibits must be accompanied by a cover sheet for the clerk that identifies the nature of each exhibit in order, and provides a place for the clerk to mark, “admitted”, “withdrawn” or “excluded” after each marked exhibit.

CRITICAL

Proposed jury instructions must conform to California Rules of Court, Rule 2.1055.

All proposed jury instructions must conform to the requirements of Rule 2.1055 of the California Rules of Court.

CRITICAL

The Clerk will not accept noncompliant papers unless the Court orders otherwise for good cause shown.

The Clerk of the Court will not accept for filing, or file, any papers that do not comply with the requirements of CRC Rules 2.100-2.119, unless the Court has ordered otherwise for good cause shown.

CRITICAL

Motions to suppress under Penal Code §1538.5 must be in writing.

All such motions to suppress must be in writing

CRITICAL

Questionnaires and documents submitted to the evaluator cannot be bound; documents must be letter-sized, one-sided, and odd-sized documents must be mounted on a letter-sized page.

Questionnaires and documents cannot be bound. Documents must be 8-1/2 by 11 inches in size. Odd-sized documents must be mounted on an 8-1/2 x 11-inch page. Documents must be one-sided only.

CRITICAL

Applies to

Jury trial submissions

Unless the Court orders otherwise on good cause shown, the specified jury-trial submissions must be in writing and delivered to the trial judge and opposing counsel or parties by the pretrial conference on the morning of the first trial day.

Absent an order of the Court on good cause shown, all jury instruction requests covering the law as disclosed by the pleadings, all special findings and verdict forms, and all requested jury voir dire questions, must be in writing and must be delivered by counsel to the trial judge and opposing counsel/party(s) no later than the pretrial conference on morning of the first day of the trial.

CRITICAL

To calendar and hear a matter without notice, counsel or counsel and self-represented parties must unanimously stipulate in writing.

If counsel, or counsel and parties in propria persona, unanimously stipulate in writing that a matter may be placed on calendar and heard by the Court without notice, then counsel or such party may notify the Clerk of the Court, in person or by telephone, of the fact of the stipulation, and may request that the matter be calendared for hearing at a designated date and time.

CRITICAL

All documents filed with the Court must comply with the California Rules of Court on form and format.

all documents filed with the Court must comply with the California Rules of Court as to form and format.

CRITICAL

Every supporting or opposing memorandum of points and authorities must comply with California Rules of Court Rule 3.1113, and the Court may disregard a noncompliant paper.

Every memorandum of points and authorities submitted in support of or opposition to a motion or application must be in accordance with Rule 3.1113 of the California Rules of Court. The Court may, in its discretion, disregard any paper that does not comply with this Rule.

CRITICAL

Papers filed with the Court must comply with California Rules of Court Rules 2.100–2.119.

All papers filed with the Court must be in conformity with each and every requirement of Rules 2.100-2.119 of the California Rules of Court.

CRITICAL

Applies to

Motion to continue preliminary examination

A motion to continue a preliminary examination must be submitted in writing by 4:00 P.M. on the preceding Friday to be considered.

No motion for continuance of a preliminary examination will be considered unless submitted to the Court in writing no later than 4:00 P.M. of the Friday before the preliminary examination is scheduled.

CRITICAL

Applies to

Stipulation

All stipulations must be written and submitted to the Court before or at calendar call on the hearing date.

All stipulations must be in writing, and all stipulations must be submitted to the Court prior to or at the calendar call on the date set for hearing.

CRITICAL

A record exceeding 25 pages in a mandate or prohibition proceeding must be double-sided, consecutively numbered, punched with two holes in the top margin, fastened together, and have the matter caption and case number on its front page.

If a proceeding in prohibition or mandate includes a record for the Court’s review that exceeds 25 pages, the record must be prepared for filing as follows: it must be copied onto double-sided pages, each page consecutively numbered, with two holes punched into the top margin and all pages fastened together, and the front page must bear the caption of the matter and the case number.

CRITICAL

Special verdict and special findings forms should elicit a yes-or-no answer when possible, or otherwise the most concise sufficient answer.

A special verdict or special findings form must be drafted so as to require, if possible, an answer of "yes" or "no", or, if that is not possible, then to require the most concise answer that will be sufficient.

WARNING

Exhibits to motions or applications, including photographs, must follow the form and format rules in California Rules of Court 3.1110 and 3.1113.

Rules 3.1110 and 3.1113 of the California Rules of Court govern the form and format of exhibits to a motion or application, including photographs used as exhibits.

WARNING

Applies to

Trial by declaration request

A defendant may obtain a trial by declaration by written request, as allowed by Vehicle Code §40902, and must waive time for speedy trial.

Upon written request, any defendant will be afforded a trial by declaration, as may be allowed by Vehicle Code §40902. A defendant who requests a trial by declaration will be required to waive time for speedy trial.

WARNING

A hardship request to be excused from jury service must be submitted in writing by the prospective juror.

A request to be excused from jury service for hardship must be from the prospective juror and must be in writing.

WARNING

Default judgment applications and supporting evidence may be presented in writing or by oral testimony, except for the specified clerk-entered default cases and quiet-title cases.

Except for default cases in which the Clerk of the Court may enter judgment without review by a judicial officer, Code of Civil Procedure §585(a), and cases in which plaintiff seeks to quiet title pursuant to CCP §764.010 (see Rule 5.11, below), applications for entry of default judgment and evidence in support thereof may be presented either in written form or by oral testimony.

WARNING

Out-of-the-ordinary or unusual motions, including complex or extensive motions in limine, must be made in writing whenever possible.

Motions that are out-of-the-ordinary or unusual (e.g. complex or extensive motions in limine) must be made in writing whenever possible

WARNING

Briefs supporting or opposing writ petitions for mandate or prohibition must generally follow the rules for motions in these Rules and the California Rules of Court.

The form of briefs in support of or in opposition to writ petitions (regarding mandate and prohibition) must generally conform to rules specified for motions in both these Rules and the California Rules of Court

WARNING

Briefs filed by fax or electronically are exempt from the binding and cover-color requirements.

Briefs that are filed by fax filing or electronically filed are not required to be bound or to have covers in the colors designated by California Rules of Court, rule 8.40(a).

INFO

Counsel and unrepresented parties are urged to review the paper-format requirements regularly.

Counsel and unrepresented parties are urged to review those requirements on a regular basis.

INFO

A proposed judgment submitted as part of a stipulation may be included in the stipulation or attached to it.

The Court will sign a judgment that is presented as part of a stipulation for judgment, whether or not the proposed judgment is included in the body of the stipulation or is an attachment thereto.