Brown v. Google LLC

Background

After considering the parties’ filings and submissions at the November 29, 2023 pretrial conference, the court entered Pretrial Order No. 1. The order confirmed a January 29, 2024 trial in Courtroom 1, subject to the trial trailing United States v. James, 19-cr-043-YGR. Jury selection was scheduled to begin at approximately 9:00 a.m., with trial proceedings scheduled to begin daily at 8:30 a.m. Each side was allocated 18 hours for its case, including opening and closing statements.

Trial Management and Evidence

The court ordered that witnesses be excluded until they completed their testimony and barred references to settlement discussions, mediation, insurance, and a party’s wealth or lack of wealth, except as allowed during a punitive-damages phase. The court explained that a motion in limine is a request to exclude anticipated prejudicial evidence before it is offered, and stated that rulings on those motions would be issued separately.

The parties were limited to the witnesses and exhibits on their filed lists, unless the court allowed additions for good cause, including rebuttal or impeachment. Exhibits could not be shown to the jury until admitted or stipulated to be admissible without the court’s permission. The parties also had to provide witness and exhibit materials, follow procedures for using deposition transcripts, keep witnesses ready, and comply with rules governing objections and written jury questions.

Jury and Other Procedures

The court set a jury of nine people with no alternates and allowed each side three peremptory challenges. The court would conduct the main questioning of prospective jurors, while each side could conduct 15 minutes of additional questioning. The parties could review publicly available online information about prospective jurors but could not communicate with them or request access to nonpublic social-media information. If follow-up questions were based on such a review, the review had to be disclosed to the juror.

The order also addressed jury instructions, expert disclosures, offers of judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68, equipment, transcript requests, settlement notices, courtroom conduct, procedural stipulations, and certification of trial exhibits. All Doe defendants would be deemed dismissed once the jury or the first witness was sworn, whichever occurred first.

Disposition

Judge Rogers ordered the parties to comply with the listed trial procedures and stated that noncompliance could result in sanctions, including monetary fines or terminating sanctions. The order also stated that it terminated Docket No. 1051. This was a procedural pretrial order; it did not decide the merits of the claims against Google LLC.