Barber v. Malaniuk

292 F.R.D. 556, 2012 WL 8303336, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83099
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 8, 2012
DocketNo. 08-CV-6363
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 292 F.R.D. 556 (Barber v. Malaniuk) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barber v. Malaniuk, 292 F.R.D. 556, 2012 WL 8303336, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83099 (N.D. Ill. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN W. DARRAH, District Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiff Terrence Barber’s Motion for a New Trial. Plaintiff alleges errors occurred during his first jury trial, warranting the hearing of a new trial. Based on the discussion below, Plaintiffs Motion for a New Trial is denied.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff claimed he was falsely arrested by Defendants Michael Shields and Michael Ma-laniuk, Chicago Police Officers, on December 14, 2005, and, further, that Defendants used excessive force against him during his arrest and assaulted him. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 6-8, 20-21; Trial Tr. 8:8-8:20, Nov. 14, 2011.) Plaintiff asserts the force used by the Defendants caused Plaintiffs head to be injured and that this injury required stitches. (Trial Tr. 8:14-8:17, Nov. 14, 2011.) Defendants denied these allegations, claiming they had probable cause to arrest Plaintiff and that Plaintiffs injuries were self-inflicted. (Defs.’ Answer at 3.)

After a pretrial conference on November 8, 2011, a jury trial commenced on November 14, 2011. The trial ended on November 17, 2011, and after deliberation, the jury returned a verdict, finding in favor of the Defendants that same day; judgment was entered on the verdict. On December 16, 2011, Plaintiff filed a Motion for a New Trial. Plaintiff advances several theories in support of his motion for a new trial, arguing the Court erred by: admitting Plaintiffs subsequent arrest and his felony conviction, barring use of prior inconsistent statements by Defendants and prior consistent statements by Plaintiff, and demonstrating what the Plaintiff termed prejudice and bias against Plaintiff.

LEGAL STANDARD

Plaintiffs Motion for a New Trial1 is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59, which provides, in pertinent part: “The court may, on motion, grant a new trial on all or some of the issues—and to any party ... after a jury trial, for any reason for which a new trial has heretofore been granted in an action at law in federal court.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(a)(1)(A). Succeeding on a Rule 59 motion requires the movant to meet a particularly difficult standard. The Seventh Circuit has provided that “a verdict will be set aside as contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence only if ‘no rational jury’ could have rendered the verdict.” Moore ex rel. Estate of Grady v. Tuelja, 546 F.3d 423, 427 (7th Cir.2008) (citing King v. Harrington, 447 F.3d 531, 534 (7th Cir.2006)). In considering a motion for a new trial, “the district court has the power to get a general sense of the weight of the evidence, assessing the credibility of the witnesses and the comparative strength of the facts put forth at trial.” Mejia v. Cook County, Ill., 650 F.3d 631, 633 (7th Cir.2011).

To obtain a new trial on the grounds of an erroneous evidentiary ruling, the party must show that such a ruling affected his [559]*559substantial rights. Fed.R.Evid. 103(a). Specifically, an erroneous ruling will only warrant a new trial where the error “had a substantial influence over the jury, and the result reached was inconsistent with substantial justice.” EEOC v. Management Hospitality of Racine, Inc., 666 F.3d 422, 440 (7th Cir.2012) (quoting Farfaras v. Citizens Bank and Trust of Chicago, 433 F.3d 558, 564 (7th Cir.2006) (Farfaras)).

ANALYSIS

Admission of Plaintiffs Subsequent Arrest

Plaintiff first argues the Court erred in permitting Defendants to present evidence at trial of Plaintiffs subsequent arrest. (Mot. at 2.) Plaintiff argues this violated his motions in limine and that this testimony alone was so prejudicial as to warrant the granting of a new trial. (Id.)

During the pretrial conference, held on November 8, 2011, both Plaintiff and Defendants presented several motions in limine. Plaintiffs first motion in limine sought to exclude from trial any mention of Plaintiffs subsequent arrests and convictions. (Pl.’s Mot. in Limine at 2.) When asked at the pretrial conference if Defendants anticipated referring to Plaintiffs subsequent arrests at trial, attorney for Defendants, Brian Gainer, indicated: “We have no intention of doing that.... But I would just ask that your Honor ... if the door is open, we at least be given an opportunity to revisit that.” (PreTrial Conf. Tr. 25:10-25:15, Nov. 8, 2011.) The Court agreed that if the door was opened, Defendants could revisit their position regarding the subsequent arrests. (See Pretrial Conf. Tr. 25:16, Nov. 8, 2011.)

Plaintiffs fifth motion in limine stated: “The Defendants must not be permitted to in any way to [sic] argue or imply that Plaintiff has, or had, a drinking or alcohol problem.” (Pl.’s Supp. Mot. in Limine at 2.) During the pretrial conference, the parties discussed this motion.

THE COURT: Here is supplemental—implying plaintiff has a drinking or an alcohol problem ...
MR. GAINER: With regard to the drinking problem, Judge, we don’t plan on saying the guy had a drinking problem.
THE COURT: Your theory is, as I read your response, was there was evidence he was drinking that night.
MR. GAINER: He said it, and then the officers observed it. And so I don’t know how you separate the two.
THE COURT: I think that would be fair. MR. FOX (Plaintiffs Counsel): We just don’t want them to try and say he had an ongoing drinking problem before and—and he was known to drink before that day. THE COURT: Okay.

(Pretrial Conf. Tr. 29:15-30:8, Nov. 8, 2011.) Rulings on motions in limine may be modified during the course of a trial if a modification is warranted. Farfaras, 433 F.3d at 565 (citing Luce v. United States, 469 U.S. 38, 41-42, 105 S.Ct. 460, 83 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984)). As Plaintiff concedes in his Motion for a New Trial, the Court acknowledged its rulings on the motions in limine were fluid, explaining: “anything that I have denied here, if something arises at trial that you think—and I’m saying this to both of you—puts a different slant on an objection that I have already overruled, you can renew it again and I will listen to it if there’s something new.” (Mot. at 7; Pretrial Conf. Tr. 12:8-12:12, Nov. 8, 2011.)

The issue of Plaintiffs drinking was one of the, if not the most, disputed critical issues in the case.

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Related

Terrence Barber v. City of Chicago
725 F.3d 702 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)
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920 F. Supp. 2d 33 (District of Columbia, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
292 F.R.D. 556, 2012 WL 8303336, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83099, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barber-v-malaniuk-ilnd-2012.