In a case scheduled to go to trial in January, the judge has ordered that each side will have 24 hours to present its case in chief. (She may be trying to rein in the defense attorney, who has bragged that he will drag out the trial and make it last three months.) Since I have the burden of proof, I wonder if that means I get instructed out if I haven't proved an element by the time the buzzer sounds?

I've heard of limiting voir dire, closing argument, opening argument, but not this. Has anyone had experience with a time limit to present your evidence?

No one else has ventured in, so . . .

It is within the trial court's discretion to control the presentation of evidence in order to, among other reasons, "avoid needless consumption of time." See Tex. R. Evid. 611(a). Now, time limits that are completely arbitrary and inconsistent with the nature of the crime charged and the State's available proof would seem to be an abuse of discretion and objectionable. The problem for you as a prosecutor is that, if the time limit leads to a directed verdict, you can't appeal from a directed verdict and challenge the time limit.

Any chance you could work within the proscribed limit? After all, 24 hours would seem to cover about 4-5 days (or more) of actual testimony . . . Is the trial court going to make y'all use a chess clock?

Now, if you make it under the time limit, but the defense gets nailed, I'd still be worried if the trial court was being unreasonable. Exclusion of defense evidence is an uphill battle on appeal.

Sound to me like a great concept for a Reality TV show. 24 hours to convict, or else... Perhaps Judge Poe would like to jump in on this one.

It has been tried with some degree of success in civil cases. I still thought the judge was probably not according the full right to be heard according to law or was not disposing of the matter fairly and I questioned whether he was exhibiting patience. These are all things supposedly required by the Code of Judicial Conduct.

It would seem very difficult to set arbitrary time limits in a criminal case for either side, but I guess there is nothing wrong with making a strong suggestion ahead of trial. The one technique I think could be used successfully is the limitation of re-direct and re-cross (to just one of each).

Many, many years ago (longer than I care to remember), I received a jury summons in a murder case. Assembled in court on a Monday morning, the judge informed the prospective jurors that the trial "will be finished by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday because I have court in Brownfield Thursday morning." I wasn't selected as a juror, but the case was tried and a verdict reached by the judge's deadline!

Janette