Zoom Witnesses: ID Check, Room Scan, No Virtual Backgrounds…

Source of truth

"All witnesses will need to be prepared to show proof of their identification prior to being sworn in over Zoom." / "Witnesses must be alone in a quiet room during testimony, may not use a virtual background, and must refrain from using all other electronic devices" / "Witnesses will be asked ... to show/scan the room in which they are located prior to testimony."

Official source: 13th Cir. — Judge Goudie (TD-2) Procedures & Preferences
Source health: Healthy · checked October 24, 2026
Effective date: —
Last verified: September 9, 2026benchpath-reverify-2026-09-08 (live text containment) | prior: benchpath-cw-2026-08-04

Reviewer note: Cross-model verified (accordion + PDF veins) 2026-07-05. 30-day recheck scheduled. | 2026-08-03: the source (rendered DOM (headless Chromium)) no longer contains this rule's quoted text; dropped to medium pending re-composition against the current version. [RECOMPOSED VERBATIM 2026-08-04 (campaign wave, partially-anchored): 2 bullet(s) quoted whole from the live page, sha256 502293f211cbd544440dd28c1be978008e17b15245371a0e263e6ec653518dc1; the prior summary-class text is superseded.] Verbatim from the division's live instruction page (https://www.fljud13.org/Directory/Judges/Judge-Goudie), harvested 2026-08-04; each bullet is quoted whole from the page, whitespace normalised only. [moved from the text 2026-09-14]

PIP / No-Fault Benefits Modification (Family)Criminal Traffic Declaratory & Injunctive Relief Defamation Probate — Elective Share Equitable Distribution Nursing Home & Assisted Living Small Claims Quiet Title Temporary Relief (Family)Paternity Partition Eminent Domain Auto Accident / Negligence

Change history

October 24, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
October 23, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
October 22, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
October 21, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
October 20, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
October 19, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
October 18, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
October 17, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
October 16, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.

Zoom Witnesses: ID Check, Room Scan, No Virtual Backgrounds — Trial Division 2

Summary

Applies to

Source of truth

Change history

Related rules

Twelfth Circuit, Judge Hunter W. Carroll — jury trials, nonjury trials and evidentiary hearings over 61 minutes are in person

In Person Required Beyond 15 Minutes; Materials 7 Days Ahead — Division AJ