Lower Kittitas County District Court

		
		
                          LCrR 4.5
                     PRE-TRIAL PROCEDURE


  (A)  Pre-Trial Hearings.  All cases scheduled for jury trial
shall be set by the clerk for a pre-trial hearing.  The state
or city prosecutor, defense counsel and the defendant shall
attend the pre-trial hearing to consider such matters as will
promote a fair and expeditious trial.  Upon agreement that the
discovery process has been completed to the satisfaction of the
parties and that there are no other issues to be heard by the
court at the scheduled pre-trial hearing, a stipulated pre-
trial statement of readiness, substantially in the form set
forth as "Form 1" below, may be filed by the parties.  The
filing of a stipulated pre-trial statement of readiness will
serve to excuse counsel and the defendant from appearing at the
scheduled pre-trial hearing.

  (B)  Motions.  All amendments to the charges, pleas or pre-
trial motions shall be made prior to or at the time of the pre-
trial hearing.  Motions which should have been heard at a
pretrial hearing shall not be considered at the time of trial
unless the judge at the time of the pre-trial hearing expressly
continues such motions to the time of trial.   Absent good
cause, motions for dismissal or suppression of evidence in
criminal cases shall be in writing and shall be provided to the
prosecutor or city attorney at least 24 hours before the pre-
trial hearing.  Motions which are lengthy, complex, or which
require the presence of witnesses will be heard by the court at
a subsequent 35/3.6 hearing calendar.

  (C)  CrRLJ 3.5 Hearings.   Pursuant to CrRLJ 3.5(a) all
demands for hearing on the admissibility of confessions must be
made no later than the pre-trial hearing.  All motions filed
pursuant to this rule shall be heard by the court at a
subsequent 3.5/3.6 hearing calendar.

  (D) Deferred Prosecution - Time for Petition - Forms for
Petition and Order.  A petition for deferred prosecution shall
be filed with the court at least seven days before the date set
for trial but, upon written motion and affidavit establishing
good cause for the delay and failure to comply with this rule,
the court may waive this requirement subject to the defendant's
reimbursement to the court of the witness fees and expenses due
for subpoenaed witnesses who have appeared on the date set for
trial.  The petition for deferred prosecution shall
substantially comply with CrRLJ 4.2(I).  The proposed findings
and order shall substantially comply with the form set forth as
"Form 2" below.

      (E) Stays of Proceedings - Form of Order.  In the event the
parties enter into a stay of proceedings, the agreement between
the parties shall be reduced to writing in a form which
substantially complies with the form set forth as "Form 3"
below.

[Adopted effective September 1, 2000; amended effective September 1, 2005]


                               Comments

The purpose of these rules is to eliminate surprise and
unnecessary delay and expense.  While the purpose of these
rules is not to create traps for the unwary, when a party's
failure to follow these rules causes unnecessary extra expense
to the opposing party, the inconvenienced party may apply to
the court for the imposition of sanctions.  The purpose of
these sanctions is not to punish but rather to insure that the
appropriate party is responsible for the predictable costs of
unnecessary delay.

Comment to section (A): The stipulated pre-trial statement of
readiness was adopted by the court at the request of counsel
who wanted to avoid the necessity of clients appearing at
unproductive pre-trial hearings.  Attorneys are encouraged to
use the pre-trial statement of readiness to avoid the necessity
of clients appearing when there are no pre-trial issues
requiring his or her presence.
Comment to section (B): The purpose of this section is to provide
a predictable structure to the pre-trial motions process and to
insure that the non-moving party has adequate time to prepare
for the hearing.  However, if counsel desire to avoid multiple
hearings, the parties may agree to present evidence and argue
pre-trial motions at the scheduled pre-trial hearing rather
than following the procedure described by this rule.

Comment to section (C): See the comments to section (B).

Comment to section (D): See RCW 10.05.010.

Comment to section (E): The stay of proceedings form set
forth below is generally consistent with the forms currently
in use in the Lower Kittitas County District Court.  In
creating a uniform stay of proceedings form, it is not the
court's intention to suggest what conditions should be part
of an agreement between the parties.  For example, if an
agreement between the parties in a specific case does not
include the defendant stipulating to the admissibility of
the police reports, or a stipulation that the reports are
sufficient to convict, the court expects the parties to line
out that portion of the stay of proceedings form.