Le v. Urquhart

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT AT SEATTLE BAO XUYEN LE, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Tommy Le; HOIA “SUNNY” LE; and DIEU HO, Plaintiffs, v. C18-55 TSZ REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER MINUTE ORDER KING, JR. COUNTY; and KING COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF CESAR Defendants.

The following Minute Order is made by direction of the Court, the Honorable Thomas S. Zilly, United States District Judge: (1) A status conference is hereby SET for Thursday, February 25, 2021, at 10:00 a.m., for the purpose of addressing whether the trial in this matter should be conducted in person, virtually, or via a hybrid format. Counsel will be provided via email the information needed to access the ZoomGov.com session. (2) At the status conference, counsel shall be prepared to address the following issues: (a) whether and, if so, what portions of the trial should be conducted in person; (b) whether and, if so, to what extent, the trial should be conducted virtually; (c) the numbers of hours or days that trial is anticipated to require; (d) the number of exhibits as to which authenticity and/or admissibility will likely be disputed; (e) the number of witnesses who are expected to testify; (f) how many and which witnesses could testify in a remote manner regardless of whether the trial is conducted virtually or in person; (g) the impact on jurors if one or more days of trial are conducted in the courthouse; (h) whether deliberations should be conducted virtually even if portions or all of the trial occurs in the courthouse; (i) what type or types of access to the proceedings the public should have; (j) what limits, if any, the Court should set on the number of attorneys and litigation staff who are present in the courtroom at the same time; (k) whether the Court could and/or should require that the trial be conducted virtually over the objection of one or more parties, see Liu v State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., --- F. Supp. 3d ---, 2020 WL 8465987 (W.D. Wash. Dec. 17, 2020). (3) By Tuesday, February 23, 2021, defendants may file supplemental briefs, not to exceed four (4) pages in length, regarding the subjects identified in Paragraph 2, above, and plaintiffs shall file a response to defendants’ objections, docket nos. 268 and 271, as well as to the inquiries in Paragraph 2, above, which shall not exceed twelve (12) pages in length. (4) The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Minute Order to all counsel of record. Dated this 19th day of February, 2021. William M. McCool Clerk s/Gail Glass Deputy Clerk