Crago v. Pitz

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedSeptember 7, 2022
Docket2:19-cv-04532
StatusUnknown

This text of Crago v. Pitz (Crago v. Pitz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crago v. Pitz, (D. Ariz. 2022).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Earl Felton Crago, Jr., No. CV-19-04532-PHX-ROS 10 Plaintiff, ORDER 11 v. 12 Joseph Pitz, et al., 13 Defendants. 14 15 This Order addresses three stipulations, fourteen motions in limine,1 and the 16 parties’ disputes regarding jury instructions. This Order makes clear the Court was 17 unable to resolve all issues raised by the parties. In light of this Order, the parties must 18 meet and confer in an attempt to resolve the issues the Court could not definitively rule 19 on. For those issues the parties still cannot resolve, they are to file a notice of specific 20 issues to be resolved at the Final Pretrial Conference. 21 I. Stipulations 22 The parties filed three stipulations regarding evidentiary issues. The Court will 23 grant those stipulations and the parties must comply with their agreed-upon limitations as 24 set forth below. 25 A. Miscellaneous Limitations (Doc. 229) 26 1 Based on the internal numbering the parties used in their filings, it appears they may 27 have intended to file a total of sixteen motions. Plaintiff filed six motions, numbered one through seven, except no motion numbered two was filed. (Doc. 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 28 237). Defendants filed eight motions, numbered one through nine, except no motion numbered seven was filed. (Doc. 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250). 1 Plaintiff has agreed he will not “introduce evidence or arguments” regarding: 2 1) Allegations of sexual assault by inmate Bradley Rakestraw; 3 2) Specific use-of-force cases, including but not limited to the George Floyd case; or 4 3) The fact that Plaintiff has previously reached settlements with the State of 5 Arizona, the Arizona Department of Corrections, and/or individual employees of 6 the same. (Doc. 229). 7 B. Plaintiff’s Drug Use (Doc. 230) 8 Defendants have agreed they will not mention Plaintiff’s “drug use prior to his 9 incarceration within the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.” 10 (Doc. 230 at 1). 11 C. Plaintiff’s Convictions (Doc. 231) 12 The parties agree they will not “admit evidence or discuss the underlying 13 circumstances surrounding [Plaintiff’s] convictions.” They agree, however, the following 14 statement may be read to the jury: “In 1994, Plaintiff Earl Felton Crago, Jr. was convicted 15 of first-degree murder and in 2002 he was convicted of two counts of aggravated 16 assault.” (Doc. 231 at 1). Finally, in the event a party believes additional information 17 regarding Plaintiff’s convictions should be referenced, the parties agree to “meet-and- 18 confer” and “approach the court prior to raising any such information.” (Doc. 231 at 2). 19 II. Plaintiff’s Motions in Limine 20 Many of the motions in limine discussed below cannot be resolved because the 21 parties have not provided sufficiently specific arguments aimed at exact evidence. 22 Therefore, the parties will be required to file an updated statement by 9:00 a.m. on 23 September 8, 2022, identifying the aspects of the motions in limine that should be 24 resolved at the Final Pretrial Conference. Now that the parties have submitted their trial 25 exhibits, the updated statement must identify the exact evidence they seek to preclude 26 through one of the motions in limine discussed below. 27 A. Plaintiff Will be Allowed to Appear in Civilian Clothing (Doc. 232) 28 Plaintiff’s first motion in limine requests he be allowed “to appear before the jury 1 in civilian clothing and without visible restraints.” (Doc. 232 at 1). Defendants oppose 2 this motion, arguing Plaintiff’s conviction for murder, as well as his disciplinary history 3 while in prison, prove he is a uniquely serious security risk. Thus, Defendants claim 4 Plaintiff “should be shackled at all times, including at the hands and feet; [and] attired in 5 his ADCRR prison uniform to minimize the risk of escape.” (Doc. 255 at 2). 6 The Ninth Circuit has adopted different rules for visible shackles versus prison 7 clothing. Visible “[s]hackling must be limited to cases urgently demanding that action.” 8 Claiborne v. Blauser, 934 F.3d 885, 900 (9th Cir. 2019) (quotation marks and citation 9 omitted). Visible shacking is not permitted based solely on a prisoner’s criminal 10 conviction or that he is serving a “lengthy prison sentence.” Id. at 898. However, a 11 prisoner’s history of violence in prison or incidents of misbehavior during court 12 proceedings may suffice to permit visible shackling. See id. 13 In the present case, Plaintiff was convicted of a violent crime, is serving a lengthy 14 prison sentence, and has an extensive history of violence in prison, including attacks on 15 corrections officers. Based on these individual characteristics, and the evidence available 16 at this time, leg shackling is appropriate. However, there is no need for that shackling to 17 be visible to the jury. As the Court has done in the past when shackling is merited, 18 Plaintiff will be required to wear leg shackles at all times, but a curtain will be placed at 19 the tables such that the jurors cannot see the shackles. In addition, the jury will not be 20 present when Plaintiff enters the courtroom or when he takes the stand.2 At present, there 21 is no need for hand shackling although Defendants may renew this request, if appropriate, 22 on the first day of trial. 23 As for prison clothing, the Ninth Circuit has noted “[p]rison clothing cannot be 24 considered inherently prejudicial when the jury already knows, based upon other facts, 25 that the defendant has been deprived of his liberty.” Duckett v. Godinez, 67 F.3d 734, 26 747 (9th Cir. 1995). Given the claims and evidence in this case, the jury will know 27 Plaintiff is currently incarcerated. But while prison clothing may not be “inherently 28 2 Security officers, if necessary, will be unobtrusively placed by the witness stand. 1 prejudicial,” there is no need for the constant reminder of Plaintiff’s status as a prisoner. 2 See Maus v. Baker, 747 F.3d 926, 927 (7th Cir. 2014) (noting “the contrast between a 3 litigant’s wearing prison garb and his opponents’ wearing law enforcement uniforms is 4 likely to influence the jury against the prisoner”). Plaintiff will be permitted to wear non- 5 prison clothing, but that clothing must be supplied by Plaintiff’s counsel. Accordingly, 6 Plaintiff’s motion will be granted in part and denied in part. 7 B. Disciplinary Histories (Doc. 233) 8 Plaintiff seeks to exclude his prison disciplinary history, and the prison 9 disciplinary histories of his incarcerated witnesses. Plaintiff also seeks to prevent any 10 “questions or references” to those histories. Plaintiff admits, however, the histories and 11 questions about those histories may be relevant and admissible if they “relate directly” to 12 his allegations in this case. (Doc. 233 at 3). Defendants respond that they plan to ask 13 questions about the disciplinary histories directly relevant to Plaintiff’s claims. 14 Defendants explain one aspect in particular they plan to explore involves 15 Plaintiff’s allegations that he received disciplinary action in retaliation for his complaints 16 about the cell doors not locking. Defendants plan on showing the disciplinary action 17 Plaintiff claims was retaliatory had a legitimate evidentiary basis. Defendants also plan 18 to show Plaintiff was not assaulted because Defendant Pitz ordered other prisoners to do 19 so. Rather, Plaintiff allegedly was assaulted “because of his long history of trafficking, 20 extortion, and intimidation.” (Doc. 260 at 4).

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Bluebook (online)
Crago v. Pitz, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crago-v-pitz-azd-2022.