MORGAN v. WARD et al

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
VALDOSTA DIVISION
SHEM O. MORGAN, 	:
:
Plaintiff, 	:
:
v. 	: 	CASE NO.: 7:21-CV-33 (LAG)
:
TIMOTHY C. WARD, et al., 	:
:
Defendants. 	:
:
ORDER
THIS ORDER AND THE ATTACHED PROPOSED PRETRIAL ORDER FORM
MUST BE CAREFULLY READ, AS THEY ARE AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME.
THIS DOCUMENT INCLUDES THE LATEST REVISIONS.
NOTE: T H E PAGES OF THE PRETRIAL ORDER MUST BE NUMBERED.
1.
A Rule 16 pretrial conference will be held in Albany, at 3:00 p.m. on May 7, 2026.
The Court requires that lead counsel for each party (or each party unrepresented by
counsel) attend the pretrial conference.
2.
This case is set for trial beginning June 8, 2026, in Albany, Georgia.
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3.
The parties should notify the Court, by email at
Marcia_alvarezbenavidez@gamd.uscourts.gov, of their current positions regarding the
possible resolution of this matter via mediation.
4.
Not less than seven (7) days prior to the pretrial conference, copies of
proposed trial exhibits of each party shall be delivered to all other parties. 	Any
objections to trial exhibits or the contents thereof shall be made not less than three (3)
days prior to the pretrial conference, and any such objections not made at that time
shall be deemed waived. The objecting party shall attach a copy of the subject exhibit
to its objection. Any extant trial exhibits not identified shall not be used at trial absent
a demonstration that the trial exhibits could not reasonably have been identified prior
to the pretrial conference.
5.
Deposition designations set forth in accordance with the INSTRUCTIONS
FOR SUBMITTING DEPOSITION DESIGNATIONS at Attachment B hereto shall be
emailed to the Court not less than fourteen (14) days prior to the pretrial conference.
6.
Any motions in limine shall be filed not less than 28 days prior to the pretrial
conference and Responses shall be filed not less than 14 days prior to the pretrial
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conference. Participants at the pretrial conference should be prepared to discuss the
merits of the motions at the pretrial conference. 	No motions in limine may be made
after the pretrial conference absent a showing that the motions could not reasonably
have been made at or before the pretrial conference.
7.
The parties must email the Court a joint proposed pretrial order in substantially
the same form and covering all the matters referenced in the attached PROPOSED
PRETRIAL ORDER not less than 14 days prior to the pretrial conference. 	The
proposed pretrial order must be emailed to the Court as an attachment to the email
and in word-processing format.
(See 	CM/ECF 	Administrative 	Procedures 	for 	Electronic 	Filing 	at
https://www.gamd.uscourts.gov/sites/gamd/files/AdministrativeProceduresElectro
nicFiling.pdf.)
8.
Proposed voir dire questions shall be filed not less than 28 days prior to the
pretrial conference. Parties should be prepared to discuss any objections thereto at the
pretrial conference. The Court’s voir dire questions are available on the Court website
page at https://www.gamd.uscourts.gov/leslie-abrams-gardner.
9.
Not less than seven (7) days prior to the pretrial conference, any proposed jury
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charges shall be filed. Each proposed charge must be on a separate page, be numbered
for identification, and be supported by either case law or a pattern jury charge citation.
Proposed requests that are not supported by legal citations will not be considered by
the Court.
At the pretrial conference each party shall:
(a) 	Produce electronic copies of all proposed exhibits of the party
(including impeachment exhibits known to exist at the time). Plaintiffs’ exhibit numbers
shall be preceded by the letter “P” and Defendants’ exhibit numbers shall be preceded
by the letter “D”. Joint exhibit numbers shall be preceded by the letter “J”. (When the
same exhibit is to be used by each side, it should be treated as a joint exhibit and
should be marked accordingly.) Exhibits which cannot be produced electronically, such
as physical objects, shall be identified and numbered on a separate list. 	Exhibits not
produced at the pretrial conference, unless excused from production by the Court, will
not be allowed at trial, absent a demonstration that the exhibit could not reasonably
have been produced at the pretrial conference.
(b) 	Make any objections as to authenticity of the exhibits of the other
parties. Any authenticity objections not made at the pretrial conference shall be deemed
waived.
(c) 	Present to the Court a list of all witnesses who may be called at trial.
All objections to witnesses shall be made at the pretrial conference, and any objection to
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witnesses not made at the pretrial conference shall be deemed waived. 	Witnesses not
identified at the pretrial conference shall not be allowed at trial unless otherwise
ordered by the Court or unless the witness could not have reasonably been identified
prior to the pretrial conference. Opposing counsel may rely on representation by the
other party who indicates that he will have a witness present unless notice to the
contrary is given in sufficient time prior to trial to allow the other party to subpoena
the witness or to obtain this testimony by other means.
(d) 	Present to the court a list of all pending motions or other matters
which require a ruling or other action by the Court. 	Any pending motions not so
identified shall be deemed waived.
10.
The parties shall send their final exhibit and witness lists as allowed by the Court
at the pretrial conference in word-processing format to the courtroom deputy at
marcia_alvarezbenavidez@gamd.uscourts.gov 	and 	provide 	evidence 	in 	electronic
format no less than three (3) business days prior to the beginning of trial. (See “JERS”
at http://www.gamd.uscourts.gov/technology for further instructions on submitting
electronic evidence.)
SO ORDERED, this 2nd day of February, 2026.
s/Leslie A. Gardner
LESLIE A. GARDNER, JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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