Rule 44.8.Pretrial Conference

As the case moves toward its evidentiary hearing, Rule 44.8 gives the judge room to hold a pretrial conference with counsel for both sides. Like the earlier preliminary conference under Rule 44.5, this step is discretionary — the rule says the court “may wish to schedule” it — and it can be handled with counsel only, over the telephone, if that suits the case.

The point of the conference is to produce an appropriate pretrial order for the proceedings ahead. That order can narrow what’s left to be decided at the hearing, so the evidentiary hearing itself — bound by its own 180-day deadline under Rule 44.9 — can focus on what remains contested.

Keeping the format light, with counsel-only participation and a phone option, fits the rule’s broader approach to capital habeas case management: give the judge tools to move the case along without adding procedural weight that doesn’t serve the parties or the record.