Chambers Procedures Courtroom 1101

Judge Catherine McDowall
Chambers Procedures
Seattle Municipal Court, Court 1101

These Chambers Procedures will apply to proceedings that occur in Court 1101, or to the extent possible, any court where Judge McDowall is presiding.  This document should be considered a “best practices” guideline, designed to ensure the efficient use of court time, to aid attorneys in clarity of presentation and consideration of legal issues, and to promote an accurate record of proceedings.

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS:

• Arrive at court on time.
• Use civil and respectful language at all times.
• Sign in when you arrive.
• Completely silence all mobile phones or other electronics such as laptops.
• No eating or drinking is permitted in the courtroom, except covered water bottles.  This includes gum.  No vaping.
• Unless required for religious, hygienic, or medical reasons, please remove hats/headwear.
• No recording or broadcast of court proceedings is permitted without advance permission from the judge.
• Masking is not required, but if you are experiencing symptoms of illness, please consider using a mask to protect all court staff and participants.

WEBEX HEARINGS:

• Stay muted and off video until your case is called.
• Stay muted unless addressing the court directly, to reduce feedback interference.
• Use the “chat” feature to communicate with attorneys or the court about procedural matters such as “ready” or “I do not have an attorney.”
• Be sure to have a clear wifi or data connection that will support video and audio connection, and make sure your device is connected to a power source or fully charged.
• Ensure that participation during the hearing occurs in a quiet location, with minimal distractions, as much as possible.
• Dress appropriately for court even when appearing remotely.  
  • The court prioritizes hearings in this order, subject to availability of counsel and interpreters:
  • In-custody defendants
  • Interpreter cases
  • Participants physically present in the courtroom.
  • Cases with paperwork ready and all participants present, in order of readiness.

ATTORNEY STANDARDS OF PRACTICE:

• Come to court prepared and on time.
• If you are covering priority hearings (interpreter, in custody) in other courtrooms, please email smc_1101@seattle.gov to let staff know you will be late.  This email should arrive no later than one hour past the hearing start time, and preferably before court begins.
• If you must go to another court while waiting for your hearing, please advise court staff and let us know when you expect to return.
• When possible, stand when addressing the court, to ensure that your voice projects in the courtroom and can be picked up by the microphones that provide our record.  Accommodations may be made for attorneys upon request.
• Be mindful of interpreters, please wait for consecutive interpretation before responding, and pause after several sentences to allow for interpretation.
• Do not call your case “ready” until adobe forms pertinent to the hearing have been completed by both attorneys (if applicable) and have been forwarded to court staff to delegate to the judge.
• This includes confirming your signature on the document after initial submission.
• If you expect a disposition, please email smc_1101@seattle.gov at least one business day before the hearing, to ask for the bailiff to calculate credit for time served.
• Treat court staff with respect and patience at all times.
• The parties and counsel should advise court staff of their preferred manner of address (such as pronouns or honorifics such as “Ms., Mrs., Mx., or Mr.”) and may do so in signature lines or by advising court staff before a hearing via email or in person.
• Counsel or participants may request disability-related or health-related accommodations to participate in an upcoming hearing. Participants are encouraged to request accommodation as far in advance as possible by emailing smc_1101@seattle.gov.
• Parties must advise court staff via email at smc_1101@seattle.gov no later than noon on the court day prior to a motions calendar (typically Friday before Monday motions), whether they expect the motion to proceed, and whether testimony will be necessary, or if the hearing will be continued or result in a disposition.
• If a party requests to add a case to a current calendar (such as a second case for a defendant that is currently scheduled in another court or on warrant status), the request must be made as far in advance as possible to the court clerk, and before the case is called on the record.  
• City attorneys: Please ask for a session sheet from the clerk before the start of the calendar.  When calling the next case, please use both the SMC case number, and the number of the case on the session sheet.  For example:  “The next case is number 4 on the court’s calendar, City v. Smith.  Case number 4240001234.”
• Please advise all clients and participants on proper court attire and presentation, especially for Webex hearings.  (I.e. no exercising, walking, driving)

APPEARANCES:

• Parties may appear by video over Webex for most hearings, provided that a sufficient connection is available to support clear audio and video, and consistent with any court-wide administrative orders.
• Audio-only appearance can be requested at the discretion of the court, but in-person and video appearance is preferred, especially for attorneys.

TESTIMONIAL MOTIONS AND TRIALS:

• All participants, including witnesses, must be present in the courtroom in person.  
• Participants may request video appearance, if requested at least five business days before the hearing, and only in extraordinary circumstances.  
• Video appearance for these hearings is strongly disfavored, and will only be granted in extraordinary circumstances.

DISPOSITION HEARINGS:

• In-person appearance for disposition hearings is preferred.
• Video appearance is permitted, provided a sufficient connection exists to support clear video and audio connection. 

ADMINISTRATIVE REQUESTS:

• Requests to quash bench warrants, or to add-on for hearings before the next scheduled hearing (such as to address conditions of release) should be made in writing and submitted to SMC Records through C-Track.  
• All requests for court action should be supported by an affidavit which should include:
  The action requested;
• A factual or legal basis to support the request;
  Confirmation that the opposing party was notified of the request, and indication whether the request is agreed or not;
• Specific timelines or deadlines for the request (i.e., upcoming bed date)
• Urgent, time-sensitive requests may also be emailed directly tosmc_1101@seattle.govwith a subject line indicating the request is “urgent” or “time-sensitive.”
• For non-urgent requests, if a ruling is not issued within three business days, attorneys may email the court at smc_1101@seattle.gov to request review.
• Any emails to the courtroom must “cc:” opposing counsel. 

TRIAL PROCEDURES AND EXPECTATIONS:

• Trial briefs should be submitted immediately upon assignment to the court.
• Submit paper copies of trial briefs for the judge to use as working copies.
• Submit an electronic copy of the trial brief to smc_1101@seattle.gov for court staff.
• When possible, please put motions that must be decided prior to jury selection near the beginning of your briefs. Motions in limine that do not need a ruling prior to jury selection may be addressed after the jury is selected.
• To the extent possible, please avoid “standard” motions that ask the court to follow the rules of evidence or to caution the parties against conduct already prohibited by court rule or case law.  If there is a specific factual basis to raise a particular motion (such as a particular problematic statement made by a witness during an interview), that may be included in the trial brief.

JURY INSTRUCTIONS:

• Prosecutors should submit instructions on the first day of trial.
•  Defense counsel should submit jury instructions no later than day two of trial.
• Provide a courtesy copy of the jury instructions to the court via email to smc_1101@seattle.gov in Word format (not .pdf).
• Provide all instructions in “cited” and “uncited” format.
• Additional instructions may be submitted to the court during trial, if needed.

Exhibits

• Lawyers should exchange exhibits prior to trial.  
• Specific timestamps of electronic exhibits you expect to offer should be provided to opposing counsel and emailed to court staff at smc_1101@seattle.gov.
• Parties should note any objections to specific timestamps and seek a ruling as part of motions in limine.
• Photos or enlargements should also be exchanged, as well as power points if applicable.
• When placing excerpts of admissible video or audio on another exhibit, please label the file with the timestamp of the original exhibit.  For example, if BWV 18:30-19:53 is admitted from Exhibit 1, and that clip is then placed on Exhibit 10 for presentation to the jury, the file name should be “BWV 18:30-19:53.”
• Lawyers should be proficient with using the court equipment and be able to operate the Elmo device without assistance from court staff.

JURY SELECTION:

• The court will provide basic instructions to the jury and allow the parties to introduce themselves (and client if applicable) to the venire.  
• The court will ask general “sorting” questions of the jurors and allow the parties to make notations of the answers.  These “sorting” questions are typically “yes” or “no” answers, and the court will not follow up on the answers, except in the case of hardship questions.
• The courts standard “sorting” questions are attached as Exhibit A.  Parties may propose additional case specific questions if warranted.
• After the court’s questions, the parties will have 30 minutes of general questioning available. Lawyers may split their time if requested. Time spent obviously exploring a challenge for cause will not be counted against the 30 minutes, to the extent practicable.  
• After questioning by the lawyers, the court will excuse the jurors and entertain motions for challenges for cause.  
• Additional questioning may be conducted of individual jurors, at the discretion of the court.
• After all motions for challenges for cause have been decided, the parties may exercise three peremptory challenges each (four, if seating an alternate juror).  
• Parties may only exercise challenges against the first six (or seven, if an alternate is seated) jurors remaining after challenges for hardship and cause.
• If a party accepts the panel, they may not exercise a peremptory challenge against a juror they have accepted.  However, they retain any remaining challenges and may use those on any new jurors entering the “box” after the opposing party exercises a challenge.

Objections

• Stand when making objections unless an accommodation has been granted.
• Objections before the jury should contain a short statement of the basis for the objection: “Objection, hearsay” or “Lack of foundation.”
• The court may ask for a brief response, such as “present sense impression” or “not offered for the truth of the matter asserted.”  
• The court will rule on the objection, and at the next recess where the jury is not in the courtroom, the court will allow the parties to supplement the basis of their objections and complete the record.  
• Please avoid lengthy speaking objections in front of the jury.
  

General guidelines

• Trial is expected to take place from 8:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.  with morning and afternoon breaks of 15 minutes at the court’s discretion.
• Parties must advise the court of any known scheduling issues with lawyers or witnesses prior to the start of the case.
• The court will not conduct “side bar” conversations with the jury present in the courtroom.  If a matter needs to be addressed outside the presence of the jury we will send the jury back to the deliberation room and address matters on the record.

EXHIBIT A – Sorting Questions to Jurors
JUROR QUALIFICATIONS:  Please raise your card if you do not meet these criteria:

1. Under 18 years old?
2. Not a citizen of the US?
3. Not a resident of King County?
4. able to communicate fluently in the English language?
5. If you have previously been convicted of a felony, have you NOT had your civil rights restored by a court?
6. This case will require you to be available for service until [time frame]. Does this create an extreme hardship, such that you cannot serve as a juror?
7. Have any of you served on a criminal jury before today?
8. Have any of you served on a civil jury?
9. Have any of you heard of this case before today?
10. Have any of you overheard any conversation about this case in the courthouse?
11. Do you know the judge or court personnel?
12. Do you know the person accused or either of the attorneys on this case?
13. The following people may be called as witnesses or referred to during testimony: Do any of you know any of these people?
14. The evidence in this case will involve testimony about the area [describe location of crime].  Are any of you particularly familiar with this location in that you live or work very close by?
15. This is an allegation of [crime].  Have any of you had any personal experience with a similar or related type of incident, as a victim whether or not it was charged as a crime?  
16. … As a witness?
17. As someone accused?
18. Do any of you have any close friends or relatives who have been a victim of [crime]?
19. Do any of you have any close friends or relatives who have been a witness to [crime]?
20. Do any of you have any close friends or relatives who have been accused of committing an assault?
21. Are any of you connected now or in the past with the courts, including working or volunteering with courts?
22. Have any of you been connected in the past or present with a legal office, including governmental law offices or private law firms?
23. Have any of you been associated now or in the past with law enforcement agencies, as an employee or volunteer? Law enforcement is defined broadly to include police, jails, prisons, and administrative enforcement such as EPA and Social Security?
24. Do any of you have any close friends or relatives who have ever been associated with the courts?
25. Do any of you have any close friends or relatives who have been associated with public or private law offices?
26. Do any of you have any close friends or relatives who have been associated with law enforcement agencies?
27. Do any of you have any legal training or education?
28. Do any of you have any medical training or experience?
29. Have any of you worked or volunteered as a victim’s advocate or as an advocate for anyone who was involved in the court system?
30. Have any of you worked or volunteered as a counselor, social worker or mentor?
31. Has anyone had a particularly good or bad experience with the police?
32. Has anyone had a particularly good or bad experience with an attorney?
33. Has anyone had a particularly good or bad experience with the courts?
34. Has anyone ever testified as a witness in court or in a deposition?
35. Would any of you not be able to assure the court that you will follow the court’s instructions on the law, regardless of what you believe the law is or ought to be?
36. The court will accommodate any physical needs of our jurors. Does anyone have any physical need for accommodation, such as a back problem or difficulty hearing?  
37. [Interpreter cases only]  This case involves a [language] interpreter.  Do any of you speak the [language] language?
     **Will you be able to put aside your knowledge of the language and rely on the interpretation provided in court by the interpreter?
38. [Interpreter cases only] Is there anyone here who believes the fact the defendant (or witness) needs an interpreter would affect you in any way?
39. [Interpreter cases only] Do any of you speak any foreign language?
40. Do any of you know any reason that you cannot try this case impartially?