Requirements & Information

Zoom vs. In-Person Hearings

Zoom is a platform by which people can appear by telephone or by video. Visit the Zoom website for more information on that platform. Judge Gould’s Zoom information is available on her Zoom Information page.

Please note that those individuals appearing live will be heard prior to those appearing by Zoom except for Private Attorney/ORC Pre-Trial Conference Hearings which will be done pursuant to a staggered schedule with the time slot given to the attorneys in advance of the proceeding.

If you wish to appear by Zoom, you may do so without prior authorization from the court. However, attorneys, defendants and witnesses are required to appear in person for jury trials, arraignments or if ordered to appear in person. While docket sounding is a mandatory court appearance, parties are permitted to attend virtually as explained below.

Prior to scheduling any evidentiary hearing or hearing more than the Rule’s requisite time frame, the moving party shall ensure the opposing party is agreeable to the Zoom appearance and that the request is otherwise in compliance with Rule 2.530 of the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration. A filed stipulation is not required on this issue.

• All participants must have their audio and video (if applicable) working and know how to mute/unmute and turn their camera on and off before the appearance begins.
• If Zooming in with audio and video capability, the participant should name themselves using their true legal first and last name. Failure to be properly named will result in the Court not allowing you into the courtroom.
• When in the Zoom courtroom, the participant should remain muted with their video camera off until their case is called.
• Participants must be present in a building, with minimal background noise. Participants must not be moving from room to room.
• Participants cannot be outdoors, or in a vehicle, even if the vehicle is stopped. Participants cannot be in motion in any way.
• When a case is called, the participant shall then enable their microphone and unmute themselves in a timely fashion.
• Any documents that would normally be filed with the clerk shall be filed with the clerk 3 business days in advance of the hearing. This includes, but is not limited to, plea in absentia forms, acknowledgment and waiver of rights forms, exhibits, etc. Please do not send any documents to the judicial assistant by email or hardcopy that you would normally file with the clerk had your appearance been in person. Please contact the clerk’s office for further instruction on the number of days in advance documents must be filed with the clerk for them to be “seen” by the judge electronically.
• Appearing remotely on Zoom carries with it the same requirements for professionalism, decorum, and civility to all participants and the court as if physically present. All participants shall be wearing attire as if they were physically in the courtroom. As in any courtroom, there is to be no eating, drinking, gum chewing, smoking, or engaging in any activity other than participation in the court appearance.
• Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the revocation of zoom appearance privileges.
• Please Note: If a lawyer has a client who violates these rules, it will be treated as if the lawyer violated the rules, and the lawyer can have their privileges revoked.
• These rules will be strictly enforced.

Pleas by Zoom

Scheduling, Canceling Pleas, Motions and Hearings

• All motions must be filed prior to reserving hearing time. Failure to file a motion but noticing an issue for hearing may result in the cancellation of hearing time.
• Criminal hearings five minutes or less in length can be scheduled in Court or through the Judicial Automated Calendaring System (JACS). Hearings should not be scheduled last minute and JACS will not permit the scheduling of the same. All parties should be given at least two days’ notice before a hearing is set absent exceptional circumstances. Attorneys are not permitted to schedule back-to-back hearings to acquire a longer block of time. If you require more than five minutes, please call/email the judicial assistant. If you are finding that there is insufficient hearing time available or have to wait more than one to two weeks to obtain hearing time on JACS please contact the judicial assistant and look for Special Set Hearing time and/or Court Set Hearing time on the Court’s calendars. Just because you don’t see a date available in JACS does NOT mean the date doesn’t exist.
• For any hearing, the party wishing the Court to consider legal authority shall submit their authority to the judicial assistant (by hand, mail, or email to codivision4@jud12.flcourts.org) at least three days prior to the hearing. A copy of the same shall be given to the opposing counsel within the same time frame.
• If an interpreter is needed, you must arrange for the interpreter. The Twelfth Judicial Circuit provides interpreters for all court events, if requested properly in advance. Please visit the Court Interpreters page, for information on scheduling an interpreter.
• Motions to Suppress and Stand Your Ground Motions shall be filed and heard prior to the plea cut-off date referenced below, unless opportunity did not exist, or the defendant was not aware of the grounds for the motion. Motions to Suppress and Stand Your Ground Motions should be scheduled through the judicial assistant and other lengthier motions will be specially set with a time certain. Failure to timely file the Motion may result in it not being heard. When you contact the judicial assistant to schedule any lengthy hearing, you should know the amount of time each side is seeking. Additionally, when a specially set hearing date is confirmed by attorneys, it is the assumption of the Court that the same was cleared with witnesses being called.
• Any Motion relative to a defendant who is incarcerated should be scheduled for an Inmate/Jail Hearing if the Attorney wishes to have the defendant appear in Court. There are several Inmate/Jail Hearing dates each month. The inmates appear via video screen. Should you wish for an inmate to be transported to the physical courtroom, please request that with the Judge in Court or by contacting the judicial assistant.
• If a case is on a regular docket, as opposed to an inmate docket, and the defendant is in custody, the case will be called on the regular docket, but the defendant will not appear. You can schedule an inmate to appear by requesting his/her presence in Court or by scheduling the case on an Inmate/Jail Hearing date on JACS. The judicial assistant will always advise judicial security to secure the inmate’s appearance.

Pretrial Conferences

Criminal pretrial conferences can be continued twice without the need for defense counsel to appear, provided the defense attorney has filed the pretrial conference continuance request form prior to the scheduled pretrial conference. The form should not be sent to the judicial assistant but rather filed with the Clerk. If you have continued the case twice before, you cannot continue it a third time without the written approval of the assistant state attorney and the defendant. Forms are available on Judge Gould’s section of the Criminal Division page and in the courtroom. Should you file a continuance form, and the case has been continued numerous times, at the discretion of the Court, the case may be set for trial. If you file a continuance form and it is not visible on the date of hearing, the Court will either set the case to another pretrial conference or for trial depending on the age of the case.

Please note that private attorney pretrial conferences have staggered hearing times. Pro-Se defendants will appear between 1:30-2:00PM. The remainder of the docket will be called in 30-minute increments and the Court will provide a schedule via email prior to the court date and the schedule will be displayed on the day of. If you are not in receipt of the schedule or wish to change your scheduled time, please contact the judicial assistant.

Docket Sounding

Defendants must appear at docket sounding. The appearance can be by Zoom unless otherwise ordered. Please refer to the Zoom rules above.

No motions of any kind, including motions to continue, will be heard at docket sounding. The purpose of docket sounding is to enter a plea or announce ready for trial. If the case is ready for trial the attorneys shall be prepared to advise the Court as to how many days the trial will last, the number of witnesses to be called and any witness scheduling conflicts.

Cases set on the Court’s trial docket should be anticipated to proceed to trial. Please do not select a docket sounding date with the anticipation that subpoenas will not be sent out by the State.

Pleas

The plea cut-off date for all cases set on a trial docket will generally be on the Thursday before the trial period. Please refer to the Court’s calendars for plea cut-off date changes. Thereafter all pleas will be open pleas to the court unless there has been a significant change with the case or the parties have requested and been approved to extend the plea cut-off date.

The Defense attorney is to schedule the plea time and do a Notice of Hearing indicating the format the plea will be done (i.e., plea in absentia). Paperwork will need to be prepared as normal, notarized and fingerprints (if required) will need to be submitted and e-filed prior to the plea date. The Court will not accept plea forms submitted to chambers in advance of the hearing.

Special Set Hearing Time

Special Set Hearing time is reserved for any Motion that will require more than 30 minutes of the Court’s time (Ex. Motions to Suppress, Stand Your Ground Motions, Non-Jury Trials, Open Pleas, Motions in Limine, Motions that can be filed well in advance of trial and require coordination with witnesses, Etc.). Assistant State Attorneys and Public Defenders’ calendars should be blocked by support staff to make them available on these dates. Please refer to the Court’s calendars for the designated time. Special Set Hearing time cannot be reserved on JACS or through the Clerk. Parties requesting Special Set Hearing time must contact the judicial assistant to schedule. As stated previously, when you contact the judicial assistant to schedule any lengthy hearing, you should know the amount of time each side is seeking. Additionally, when a hearing date is confirmed by attorneys, it is the assumption of the Court that the same was cleared with witnesses being called. If the hearing time concerns and inmate, please notify the judicial assistant should you wish for the inmate to appear. The Court has the following time reserved for Special Set Hearings in 2024:

Court Scheduled Hearing Time

Court Scheduled Hearing time is reserved for any Motion that requires timely attention and could not for whatever reason be scheduled on the Court’s Plea/Motion Hearing dates (Ex. Motions for Uncharged Defendants, late filed Motions in Limine, Motions to set aside/vacate a bench warrant, Motions to Revoke Bond, Etc.) Please refer to the Court’s calendars for the designated time. Court Set Hearing time cannot be reserved on JACS or through the Clerk. Parties requesting this time must contact the judicial assistant to schedule and must provide the other side with at least two business days’ notice. It is anticipated by the Court that Assistant State Attorneys and Public Defenders will not reserve this time on their calendars and may have other matters booked. As such, this Hearing time will only be available for parties should both sides agree to the date/time. Please confirm with opposing counsel prior to contacting the judicial assistant. The Court has the following time reserved for Court Scheduled Hearings in 2024: