N.D. Cent. Code § 28-14-10: Order of trial

When the jurors have been sworn, the trial must proceed in the following order, unless the judge for special reasons directs otherwise:

1.The plaintiff, after stating the issue and the plaintiff's case, shall produce the evidence on the plaintiff's part;

2.The defendant then may open the defendant's defense and offer the defendant's evidence in support thereof;

3.The parties then respectively may offer rebutting evidence only, unless the court, for good reasons in furtherance of justice, permits them to offer evidence upon their original case;

4.The court may charge the jury when the evidence is concluded or after the argument, if any, of the plaintiff and defendant;

5.Unless the case is submitted to the jury on either or both sides without argument, the plaintiff shall commence and may conclude the argument; and

6.If several defendants having separate defenses appear by different counsel, the court shall determine their relative order in the evidence and argument.