United States v. Felix

          ORDER FOR THE VIDEOTAPE DEPOSITIONS OF THE MATERIAL WITNESS

          NITA L. STORMES, Magistrate Judge.

         Pursuant to the motion of material witnesseS) Juan Manuel Gonzalez Munoz and Martin Enriquez Gonzalez [the "Material Witness"], by and through their attorney, Christopher K. Monelt, by appearance of the parties and their respective counsel, and good cause appearing:

         1. Unless the Material Witness is previously released from custody of both the U.S. Marshall and the United States Border Patrol, the Material WitnesseS) Juan Manuel Gonzalez Munoz and Martin Enriquez Gonzalez, shall be deposed on 7-20, 2016 at 10.00 a.m. The deposition will be held at the U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego, California. An employee of the U.S. Attorney's office shall serve as the videotape operator.

         2. All parties shall attend the depositions. The arresting agency shall bring the Material Witness to the deposition and remain present during the proceeding. If the defendant(s) are in custody, they shall be brought separately to the depositions and a marshal shall remain present during the entire proceeding.

         3. The United States Attorney's Office shall arrange for a court-certified interpreter to be present for the Material Witness, if necessary. The cost of the interpreter for the Material Witness will be borne by the United States. See 28 U.S.C. § 1827(c)(2).

         4. If a defendant needs an interpreter independent of the Material Witness' interpreter (if any), defense counsel will arrange for a court-certified interpreter to be present. The cost of a separate interpreter shall be paid by the court.

         5. The U.S. Attorney's Office shall arrange for a certified court reporter to be present. The court reporter shall stenographically record the testimony and serve as a notary and preside at the depositions in accordance with Rule 28(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. The cost of the court reporter shall be borne by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

         6. The depositions shall be videotape recorded. Prior to the conclusion of each deposition, the deponent, or a party, may elect to have the deponent review the videotape record of his depositions and to note any changes. Any errors or changes, and the reasons for making them, shall be stated in writing and such writing shall be signed by the deponent(s).

         7. The videotape operator shall select and supply all equipment required to videotape and audiotape the depositions and shall determine all matters of staging and technique, such as number and placement of cameras and microphones, lighting, camera angle, and background. He/she shall determine these matters in a manner that accurately reproduces the appearance of the witnesses and assures clear reproduction of each witness' testimony and the statements of counsel. The witness, or any party to the action, may place upon the record any objection to the videotape operator's handling of any of these matters. Such objection shall be considered by the Court in ruling on the admissibility of the video and/or audiotape record. All such objections shall be deemed waived unless made promptly after the objector knows, or has reasonable grounds to know, of the basis of such objection.

         8. The Material Witness shall be deposed in an order as determined the Assistant United States Attorney conducting the depositions for the prosecution. The deposition shall be recorded in a fair, impartial, objective manner. The videotape equipment shall be focused on the witness; however, the videotape operator may from time to time focus upon charts, photographs, exhibits or like material being shown to the witness during the deposition.

         9. Before examination of the witness, the notary shall state on the video/audio record: (a) hislher name and address; (b) the date, time and place of the deposition; (c) the name of the witness and the caption of the action; and (d) the identity of the parties and the names of all persons present in the room. The notary shall then swear the witness on the video record. Further, at the beginning of the examination by each counsel, the counsel shall identify himselflherself and hislher respective client on the record. If more than one videotape is used, the notary shall repeat items (a), (b) and (c) at the beginning of each new tape.

         10. The videotape operator shall not stop the video recorder after the deposition commences until it concludes, except, however, that any party may request a cessation for a brief recess, which request will be honored unless another party objects and states the basis for said objection on the record. Each time the tape is stopped or started, the videotape operator shall announce the time on the record. If the deposition requires the use of more than one tape, the end of each tape and the beginning of the next shall be announced orally on the video record by the operator.

         11. Testimonial evidence objected to shall be recorded as if the objection had been overruled and the court shall rule on the objections prior to admitting that portion of the deposition. The party raising the objection(s) shall be responsible for preparing a transcript for the court to consider. All objections to the evidence presented shall be deemed waived unless made during the deposition.

         12. If requested by a party, the deposition testimony, if offered other than for impeachment, may be presented in non-stenographic audio/visual format, in which case no transcript need be prepared in advance of ...