ORDER granting 120 : Before the Court is the Defendants' Unopposed Motion to Extend Deadlines… — Blueacorn (Dkt. 121)

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An order of U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in United States v. Nathan Reis and Stephanie Hockridge, a/k/a Stephanie Reis, No. 4:24-cr-00287-O, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, filed April 7, 2025 as Document 121. The order grants in part the defendants' unopposed motion to extend deadlines and amend the scheduling order (ECF No. 120), modifying the original scheduling order dated November 26, 2024. It sets Ms. Hockridge's jury trial for May 12, 2025 and Mr. Reis' jury trial for August 11, 2025. It sets separate deadlines for expert designations, challenges to those designations, and exchange of proposed jury charges, including an Agreed Charge due May 1, 2025 for Ms. Hockridge and July 31, 2025 for Mr. Reis.

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Case 4:24-cr-00287-O         Document 121         Filed 04/07/25   Page 1 of 3     PageID 1172



                       IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                       FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
                               FORT WORTH DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                     §
                                              §
               Plaintiff,                     §
                                              §
v.                                            §       Case No. 4:24 CR-00287-O
                                              §
NATHAN REIS and                               §       (01)
STEPHANIE HOCKRIDGE,                    a/k/a §       (02)
STEPHANIE REIS,                               §
                                              §
               Defendants.                    §

                                             ORDER

        Before the Court is the Defendants’ Unopposed Motion to Extend Deadlines and Amend

Scheduling Order. ECF No. 120. Having considered the Motion, and noting that is it unopposed,

the Court GRANTS in part the Motion. The Court hereby amends the following deadlines that

have not yet passed. Accordingly, it is ORDERED that

     1. This order shall amend and modify this Court’s original Scheduling Order for Criminal

        Trial and Pretrial Order dated November 26, 2024 (ECF No. 13) (the “Original Order”).

        The terms of the Original Order shall continue to apply to the extent they are not

        inconsistent with this order.

     2. Ms. Hockridge’s case is set for jury trial at 9:00 am on Monday, May 12, 2025.

     3. Mr. Reis’ case is set for jury trial at 9:00 am on Monday, August 11, 2025.

     4. Ms. Hockridge and Mr. Reis must file their respective written designation of expert

        witnesses, if any, that contains the information required by Federal Rule of Criminal

        Procedure 16(b)(1)(C)(iii), no later than April 21, 2025 (as to Ms. Hockridge) and July

        21, 2025 (as to Mr. Reis). Each designation must contain a brief statement of the subject

        matter to be covered by each expert witness. Any motions challenging these designations,

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Case 4:24-cr-00287-O       Document 121        Filed 04/07/25       Page 2 of 3      PageID 1173



      including challenges under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, must be filed by April 25, 2025

      (as to Ms. Hockridge) and July 25, 2025 (as to Mr. Reis).

   5. As to the trial of Ms. Hockridge, to minimize time after commencement of the trial in

      resolving differences in the language to be included in the Court’s charge to the jury:

          a. Counsel for the United States of America shall deliver to counsel for Ms. Hockridge
             by April 28, 2025, a copy of its proposed Court’s charge to the jury.

          b. Counsel for Ms. Hockridge shall deliver to counsel for the United States of America
             by April 29, 2025, (i) a statement, prepared with specificity, of any objection his
             client had to any part of the proposed charge counsel for United States of America
             has delivered pursuant to this paragraph and (ii) the text of all additional
             instructions his client wishes to have included in the court’s charge to the jury. Each
             objection and each additional instruction shall be accompanied by citations to
             authorities supporting Ms. Hockridge’s objection or request.

          c. By 10:00 a.m. on May 1, 2025, the lead attorneys for the parties to this action shall
             meet face-to-face in the office of the United States Attorney for the purposes of (i)
             discussing, and trying to resolve, differences between the parties as to language to
             be included in the Court’s charge to the jury and (ii) identifying areas of
             disagreement that cannot be resolved. The meeting shall be held for a sufficient
             length of time for there to be a meaningful discussion of all areas of disagreement
             and a meaningful attempt to accomplish agreement. Each attorney shall cooperate
             fully in all matters related to the meeting.

          d. By 2:00 p.m. on May 1, 2025, counsel for United States of America shall file a
             document titled “Agreed Charge,” which in a single document shall contain, in
             logical sequence, all language to be included in the charge, including jury
             instructions and jury questions, about which the parties do not have disagreement
             and all language either party wishes to have included in the charge about which
             there is disagreement. All language of the proposed charge about which there is
             agreement shall be (i) in bold face, (ii) preceded by an indication of the identity of
             the party requesting the language, and (iii) followed by a listing of citations of
             authorities in favor of and in opposition to the proposed language. Furthermore, on
             the same day by 2:00 p.m., counsel for the United States of America shall submit
             an electronic (WordPerfect or Word compatible) version of this document to
             o’connor_orders@txnd.uscourts.gov.




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Case 4:24-cr-00287-O       Document 121        Filed 04/07/25       Page 3 of 3      PageID 1174



   6. As to Mr. Reis, to minimize time after commencement of the trial in resolving differences

      in the language to be included in the Court’s charge to the jury:

          a. Counsel for the United States of America shall deliver to counsel for Mr. Reis by
             July 28, 2025, a copy of its proposed Court’s charge to the jury.

          b. Counsel for Mr. Reis shall deliver to counsel for the United States of America by
             July 29, 2025, (i) a statement, prepared with specificity, of any objection his client
             had to any part of the proposed charge counsel for United States of America has
             delivered pursuant to this paragraph and (ii) the text of all additional instructions
             his client wishes to have included in the court’s charge to the jury. Each objection
             and each additional instruction shall be accompanied by citations to authorities
             supporting Mr. Reis’s objection or request.

          c. By 10:00 a.m. on July 31, 2025, the lead attorneys for the parties to this action shall
             meet face-to-face in the office of the United States Attorney for the purposes of (i)
             discussing, and trying to resolve, differences between the parties as to language to
             be included in the Court’s charge to the jury and (ii) identifying areas of
             disagreement that cannot be resolved. The meeting shall be held for a sufficient
             length of time for there to be a meaningful discussion of all areas of disagreement
             and a meaningful attempt to accomplish agreement. Each attorney shall cooperate
             fully in all matters related to the meeting.

          d. By 2:00 p.m. on July 31, 2025, counsel for United States of America shall file a
             document titled “Agreed Charge,” which in a single document shall contain, in
             logical sequence, all language to be included in the charge, including jury
             instructions and jury questions, about which the parties do not have disagreement
             and all language either party wishes to have included in the charge about which
             there is disagreement. All language of the proposed charge about which there is
             agreement shall be (i) in bold face, (ii) preceded by an indication of the identity of
             the party requesting the language, and (iii) followed by a listing of citations of
             authorities in favor of and in opposition to the proposed language. Furthermore, on
             the same day by 2:00 p.m., counsel for the United States of America shall submit
             an electronic (WordPerfect or Word compatible) version of this document to
             o’connor_orders@txnd.uscourts.gov.

      SO ORDERED on this 7th day of April, 2025.


                                             _____________________________________
                                             Reed O’Connor
                                             UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE




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