4.0 SESSION HOURS AND OPENING OF SESSION
(a) Hours.
Sessions of departments shall be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon and from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Presiding Judge, by written order, may provide for a variance therefrom. Default proceedings in family law and pretrial hearings assigned to civil trial departments shall be set for 8:30 a.m. and civil trials shall commence no later than 9:00 a.m., unless the Court orders otherwise.
(Rule 4.0(a) amended and effective 1/1/98.)
(b) Opening of Sessions.
Morning and afternoon sessions shall be opened by the bailiff, court attendant or clerk. After a recess during a session, he/she shall call for order and state that the court is again in session.
(c) Conflicts of Counsel; Precedence.
1) Except as otherwise expressly provided by law or by rule of court, participation by counsel in jury trials in criminal cases shall take precedence over all other judicial business; and participation by counsel in jury trials in civil cases shall take like precedence over all other judicial business except jury trials in criminal cases.
2) No judge of this court shall hear before him/her, between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon and 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., a matter that will involve an appearance of counsel who is engaged in a civil or criminal jury trial, except as previously agreed to by the judge before whom counsel is presently engaged.
3) It shall be the duty of counsel to call a judge's attention to the fact that such counsel is engaged in a jury trial so as to avoid a violation of this rule. If any counsel has two or more court commitments which will conflict or which might conflict with this rule, it shall be the duty of counsel to take all action which might be required to avoid a violation of this rule.
4) For the purpose of this rule, motions made before jury selection has commenced (such as motions for a continuance of a jury trial) shall not be considered a jury trial.
(Rule 4.0 [1/1/94] amended and effective 1/1/98.)
4.1 RECORDING AND PHOTOGRAPHING IN THE COURTHOUSE
Passes.w enforcement press passes shall be presented for inspection to Sheriff or Court personnel upon request.
(b) Requests for media coverage. Requests for media coverage of any type, including pool cameras, shall be submitted to the judge on the form approved by the Judicial Council. Requests shall indicate placement preferences for microphones.
Special requests to film jury rooms or employee work areas in the Court shall be made on a form approved by the Judicial Council. Five days before the proposed filming is to occur, unless good cause is shown, all such requests shall be directed to the Los Angeles Superior Court Public Information Office and (i) in the Central District: To the Presiding Judge (for the Stanley Mosk (County) Courthouse), to the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court (for the Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court), to the Supervising Judge of the Criminal Department (for the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center) to the Supervising Judge of the Complex Litigation Department (for the Central Civil West Courthouse), to the Supervising Judge of the Mental Health Department (for the Mental Health Courthouse), or to the Supervising Judge of the Traffic Department (for the Metropolitan Courthouse); or (ii) in other districts: to the District Supervising Judge and (for any courthouse that has a Site Judge) also to the Site Judge. The request shall include the time estimatefor filming. Time estimates will be enforced.
(Rule 4.1(b) [11/01/00] amended and effective 1/1/05.)
(c) Limitation on coverage. Other than as permitted by the judge in a written order and except for the press room (Media Center on the Ninth Floor of the Mosk Courthouse) and such areas as designated by the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court, the Supervising Judge of the Criminal Department, or the District Supervising Judge (in coordination with the Site Judge, if any) for the courthouse in which the photographing or electronic recording is to take place, photographing and electronic recording is not permitted in any part of the Court, including, but not limited to, entrances, exits, halls, stairs, escalators, elevators, and courtrooms. Presiding and supervising judges may make orders, including standing media orders, inconsistent with Local Rule 4.1. Cameras and recording devices shall be turned off while transporting them in any area of the Court unless permitted by the judge in a written order. Photographing the interior of any courtroom through glass door windows or between the double doors is prohibited. No microphones or cameras of any type are permitted in any courtroom unless the judge has expressly so permitted in a written order. However, camera-enabled devices and digital image capture devices, such as cell phones, PDAs or watches, may be brought into the courtroom, as long as the image capturing features are turned off and not used, unless the judge has expressly otherwise permitted by written order.
All audible features of cell phones, pagers and PDAs shall be turned off while in the courtroom.
(Rule 4.1(c) [11/01/00] amended and effective 1/1/05.)
(d) Obstruction of traffic. At no time shall any grouping of people in any hallway, entrance or exit become so large as to obstruct pedestrian traffic.
(e) Filming jurors. Photographing and filming any person wearing a juror badge in the Court is prohibited.
(f) Media wiring. All media wires and cables in court must be permitted by written order of the Court and shall be secured or covered.
(g) Responsibility for Rules. All media personnel shall be familiar with and shall comply with these Rules, Rule 1.150 of the California Rules of Court, and any applicable orders.
(Rule 4.1(g) [1/1/98] amended and effective 1/1/08.)
(h) Definitions. "Media coverage" means any photographing, recording, or broadcasting of court proceedings by the media using television, radio, photographic or recording equipment. Rule 1.150(b)(1), California Rules of Court.
"Judge" means the judicial officer or officers assigned to or presiding at the proceeding. Rules 1.150(b)(4), California Rules of Court.
"Media" means any person or organization engaging in news gathering or reporting and includes any newspaper, radio or television station or network, news service, magazine, trade paper, in-house publication, professional journal, other news-reporting or news-gathering agency. Rule 1.150(b)(2), California Rules of Court.
"Court" means the courtroom at issue, the courthouse, and its entrances and exits. Rule 1.150(b)(3), California Rules of Court. In those courthouses which house agencies or offices other than those of the Superior Court, such as the District Attorney's office or Public Defender's office, this Rule does not prohibit or restrict media access, filming or photographing on floors which do not have courtrooms, court operations, court entrance(s) or exit(s) or in those agencies or offices. Court does not include areas outside the enclosed physical structure of the courthouse.
(Rule 4.1(h) [1/1/98, 11/1/00] amended and effective 1/1/08.)
(Rule 4.1 [1/1/98, 1/1/2000, 11/1/00, 1/1/05] amended and effective 1/1/08.)
|
