Judge Gould's FAQs

Yes, the Court will allow Zoom for most Court appearances. Please refer to the Judge’s requirements for specifics.

No.

Yes. Please refer to the requirements for specifics.

You can schedule hearing time yourself using JACS for any Motion that requires less than thirty minutes of the Court’s time. You must file a Motion for it be heard.

Review the Court’s calendar for Special Set Hearing time. Consult with opposing counsel to schedule a date and time, confirm that date and time with any witnesses and then contact Chambers.

Send it to codivision4@jud12.flcourts.org and copy opposing counsel three days before your scheduled hearing. You can also send caselaw by post.

Please refer to the Judge’s calendars. Most court appearances have a designated inmate time slot. For example, if a person is on the Arraignment or Pre-trial Conference docket and that person is in custody, he/she would be brought by video at the inmate timeslot. This will happen automatically without an attorney needing to request it. If you have a Special Set, Court Set or Violation of Probation Hearing court date set, the attorney will need to request an Order to Transport the Inmate for that hearing type if his/her presence is desired. Please refer to Judicial Security procedures on requesting inmates.

File everything you would file if you were to appear in Court. Please be advised the Clerk’s office is sometimes delayed in uploading documents. The Judge needs to see your documents at the time of the scheduled plea, or it will be rescheduled. Do not send the documents to chambers, even as a courtesy. A lawyer can also bring the paperwork to Court and file it at the plea hearing.

Defendants who do not have a lawyer will be addressed throughout the docket. Attorneys will be addressed in their designated time slot that is emailed out by the Judge. This is an effort to save everyone wait time. However, if you wish to come to Court and wait until your designated time, you are welcome to do that. The Judge will call your case early if running ahead of schedule. If you do not receive the emails or need to change your time, please reach out to Lori Jakanski at LJakanski@jud12.flcourts.org. If you are a private attorney and someone has agreed to cover for you, please make sure you both are on the same time slot. If you submit a continuance form and you have a client in custody, the defendant will appear via video feed at a designated timeslot regardless of the attorney’s presence.

Yes. Please file them with the clerk. If your case has been continued more than twice, the desired date may not be secured. Additionally, if the Judge cannot see your form at the time of the hearing, the Judge will select the next court date. Defendants, who do not have a lawyer, cannot utilize the continuance forms.

No, the Judge will review the Motion in chambers. Please provide a proposed Order.

Expect your case to go to trial in approximately ten business days. Docket Sounding is a mandatory court appearance for criminal defendants.

If there has been a significant change in the case or the parties requested an extension of the plea cut-off date, the Judge will accept the plea, otherwise the negotiated plea will not be accepted. A criminal Defendant can always open plea to the Court at any time.

The Judge will review the correspondence in chambers and act accordingly. Depending on what the correspondence is, it may be forwarded on to lawyers to address and hearing time may not be granted.

The Judge will review the correspondence in chambers and act accordingly. The Judge may need to request and obtain your certified driving record so please be patient. Also, be advised the Judge can only help with Manatee County traffic issues. When sending in correspondence of this nature, provide the ticket number and the traffic case number.