Court permits parties to prepare agreed order allowing some remote lay-witness testimony

Defense counsel told the court it had filed a motion to allow several lay witnesses to testify remotely, arguing the witnesses were material to multiple phases of trial. “We have filed a motion to permit the defense to call a handful of witnesses via remote testimony,” defense counsel said during the morning docket.

The prosecutor told the court he did not object to Zoom testimony for the listed witnesses so long as records could be introduced under authentication rules. The prosecutor stated on the record that he would not object to the remote witnesses if defense produced stipulated authentication for several records (phone records, hotel records, flight manifests and Chase records) under the applicable rules.

The judge directed counsel to produce an agreed order that would specify which witnesses could testify remotely and which records were stipulated for authentication. The court made no final evidentiary rulings on the record; instead it required specificity in the agreed order so matters not covered by it remain contested.

Next steps: counsel for both sides will prepare and file an agreed order identifying permitted remote witnesses and the records that will be introduced by stipulation; anything not in that order remains subject to objection.