TITLE SIX — WITNESSES
Rule 615. Sequestration of Witnesses
Sequestration. At a party’s request, the court may order witnesses excluded so that they cannot hear other witnesses’ testimony. Or the court may do so on its own. But the court may not exclude any parties in a civil proceeding, nor the defendant in a criminal proceeding. This subdivision limits sequestration under this rule only. It does not limit the removal of a disruptive defendant under Rid. R. Crim. P. 45, and it neither authorises nor forbids the conduct of a trial in the defendant’s absence, which 6 R. Stat. § 131.501(b) through (e) and Rid. R. Crim. P. 18 through 18.5 govern.
When Ordered. The court may enter an order under this rule before or during the examination of a witness, as Rid. R. Crim. P. 21 provides, and may enter it before the proceeding begins upon a motion made at a pre-trial conference held under Rid. R. Civ. P. 13 or Rid. R. Crim. P. 11.
Persons Not Subject to Exclusion. The following shall not be excluded under this rule:
a party who is a natural person;
the defendant in a criminal proceeding, whose right to be present at all critical stages is secured by Const. art. I § 6 and Rid. R. Crim. P. 18, and whose trial may be held in the defendant’s absence only upon an express waiver of presence under Rid. R. Crim. P. 18(c) or upon an absentia authorization entered under Rid. R. Crim. P. 18.3, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.501 provides;
one officer, employee, or other representative of a party that is not a natural person, designated by that party’s attorney upon the record;
a person whose presence a party shows to be essential to presenting that party’s claim or defense, including a case agent or investigating officer designated upon the record; and
a person whose presence is authorized by statute.
Content of the Order. An order under this rule shall direct each excluded witness, upon the record:
not to be present in the proceeding communications while testimony or argument is being received, and not to read the record of the proceeding communications for the period of the exclusion;
not to discuss the case or the witness’s testimony with any other witness, and not to be told what any other witness has said, whether in the proceeding communications, in a direct message, in another channel, or in the game environment;
not to read a filing, a document, or the docket in the case during the period of the exclusion, except a writing the court permits the witness to consult; and
to inform the court at once of any communication made to the witness in violation of the order.
Sequestration in a Proceeding Conducted in the Proceeding Communications.
Manner of Exclusion. Exclusion is effected by removing an excluded witness’s access to the proceeding communications, or, where access cannot be removed, by an order under subdivision (4) which binds the witness personally. The court shall direct the clerk or the person having control of the channel to remove and restore access, and the record shall show the time at which access was removed and restored.
Order Binding upon Persons. The court cannot restrict access to the public docket, and cannot seal an individual filing or document in a case that is not a sealed matter. The restriction upon an excluded witness’s reading of the record and of the filings is accordingly imposed as a personal obligation of that witness, and is enforced against that witness and against any person who assists in its breach.
Persons Bound. An order under this rule binds the witness, every party, every attorney of record, and every person acting for a party who has notice of it. A party and counsel shall inform each witness the party intends to call of the order and of its terms, and shall state upon the record that they have done so.
Recall of a Witness. A witness who has testified and has not been excused remains subject to the order until excused, and shall not read the record of the intervening testimony.
Enforcement.
Contempt. A violation of an order under this rule is punishable as a contempt under Rid. R. Civ. P. 53 and Rid. R. Crim. P. 43. Conduct falling within R.C.C. § 1.10 shall be reported by the court to the Attorney General.
Evidentiary Consequences. Upon a violation, the court may permit cross-examination upon the fact and the circumstances of the violation, may instruct the fact finder that it may consider the violation in weighing the witness’s testimony, and may strike the testimony in whole or in part.
Exclusion of the Witness. The court shall not exclude the testimony of a witness for a violation not procured by, and not known to, the party calling the witness, unless no lesser measure will remedy the prejudice. The court should impose the least severe sanction necessary to remedy the prejudice to the innocent party, as Rule 103(7) provides.
The Defendant. The testimony of a defendant in a criminal proceeding shall not be excluded for a violation of an order under this rule.
Duration. An order under this rule remains in effect until the witness is excused by the court or the proceeding is adjudicated. A witness summoned in a criminal proceeding shall remain available in attendance until the proceeding is adjudicated or until excused by the court, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.302 provides.
Expert Witnesses. The court may permit an expert witness to be present notwithstanding an order under this rule, where the expert’s opinion may be based upon evidence presented in the proceeding as Rule 703(2) permits. The court shall state upon the record the reason for permitting the expert to remain.
Grand Jury Proceedings. No person shall be present at a session of the grand jury except the witness under examination, one attorney representing that witness for the purpose of advising and consulting with the witness, the Attorney General and the state attorneys, the Clerk of the Superior Court, and the presiding judge, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.105 provides. Sequestration before the grand jury is accomplished by that section and by the secrecy imposed by 6 R. Stat. § 131.110, and this rule adds nothing to it.
Depositions and Other Proceedings. This rule applies to a deposition taken under Rid. R. Civ. P. 23 or 24 and to any hearing at which testimony is received. At a deposition, an order under this rule is enforced by the court upon motion, and a violation may be raised upon an objection to the use of the deposition under Rid. R. Civ. P. 25.