James v. Tilghman

194 F.R.D. 402, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22216, 1999 WL 33117427
District Court, D. Connecticut·Decided April 12, 1999·No. No. 2:91 CV 1136 JGM·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

RULING ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTIONS IN LIMINE

MARGOLIS, United States Magistrate Judge.

The factual and procedural history behind this litigation is set forth in considerable detail in James v. Tilghman, 2:91 CV 1136(JGM), 1998 WL 849393 (D.Conn. Nov. 5, 1998). Familiarity is also presumed with [404] the Ruling on Defendants’ Motion to Preclude Inmate Informant Identities and Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Discovery of Inmate Identities and Document Withheld Under Assertion of Privilege, filed March 29, 1999 (Dkt. # 171) [“March 1999 Ruling”]. See also Dkt. # 176.

Plaintiff filed four motions in limine on March 22, 1999 (Dkt. ## 159, 161, 163, 165). Briefs in opposition were filed on April 5, 1991 (Dkt. ## 174-75, 177, 179), and reply briefs were filed on April 9, 1999. (Dkt. ## 180-82).1 Jury trial is scheduled to commence on April 26,1999.

I. DISCUSSION

A. PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO PRECLUDE ADMISSION OF PLAINTIFF’S DISCIPLINARY RECORDS AND DETAILS OF HIS PRIOR CONVICTIONS INTO EVIDENCE (Dkt. #159)

In this motion, plaintiff seeks to limit defendants’ introduction of details of plaintiffs convictions into evidence and bar all evidence of his disciplinary history, pursuant to Fed. R.Evid. 402, 403, 404, 608 & 609. According to his counsel, plaintiff has thirteen prior convictions, as follows:

[[Image here]]

(Dkt. # 160, Exhs. A-B). Plaintiff currently is in prison for the August 13, 1991 conviction. Defendants argue that this information is relevant to plaintiffs claims in this lawsuit, because defendants’ classification and housing decisions were based, in part, upon plaintiffs prior criminal acts and disciplinary history. (Dkt. # 175, at 2 & Exhs. A-B).

Fed.R.Evid. 609 provides in pertinent part:

(a) General rule. For the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness,

(1) evidence that a witness ... has been convicted of .a crime shall be admit[405] ted, subject to Rule 403, if the crime was punishable by ... imprisonment in excess of one year____

(b) Time limit. Evidence of a conviction under this rule is not admissible if a period of more than ten years has elapsed since the date of the conviction or of the release of the witness from the confinement imposed for that conviction, whichever is the later date, unless the court determines, in the interests of justice, that the probative value of the conviction supported by specific facts and circumstances substantially outweighs its prejudicial effect.

Rule 403, in turn, provides in full: “Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.” As the Seventh Circuit reasoned in Gora v. Costa, 971 F.2d 1325, 1330 (7th Cir. 1992): “The idea underlying Rule 609, whether right or wrong, is that criminals are more likely to testify untruthfully.” (citation omitted). See also Young v. Calhoun, 85 CIV. 7584(SWK), 1995 WL 169020, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 10, 1995) (“In the case at bar [§ 1983 action by prisoner against correctional officer], plaintiffs murder conviction is probative of his credibility since it removes any misperceptions that plaintiff is a model citizen.”) (citing Gora).

Under Rule 609, defendants may not impeach plaintiff with the following nine convictions: the two August 11,1988 convictions; the June 13, 1990, November 19, 1990, February 3, 1991, and August 13, 1991 misdemeanors; and the two November 1, 1990 nolles and the two November 19, 1990 nolles. In exercising the “broad discretion to admit or exclude evidence of prior convictions under [Rule 609],” Young, 1995 WL 169020, at *2, the Court concludes that plaintiff may, however, be impeached regarding the following four felonies, for which he was convicted within ten years of trial: the February 24, 1990 conviction; the June 13,1990 conviction; the February 3, 1991 conviction; and the August 13,1991 conviction. See also Daniels v. Loizzo, 986 F.Supp. 245, 248-52 (S.D.N.Y. 1997) (limiting convictions for which plaintiff in § 1983 action may be impeached at trial); Young, 1995 WL 169020, at *2-4 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 10,1995) (same). Plaintiff has correctly argued that in cross-examination, defense counsel is limited to “elicitation of the crime charged, the date, and the disposition” and “it is error to elicit any further information for impeachment purposes.” Gora, 971 F.2d at 1330 (citation omitted). See also Bustamante v. Thedford, 89 C 3471, 1995 WL 76900, at *2 (N.D.Ill. Feb. 23, 1995) (in § 1983 action, “the fact of Plaintiffs convictions, including the offense charged, the disposition, and the date of disposition may be admitted into evidence to attack Plaintiffs credibility as a witness.”) (citation omitted); Withers v. Riley, No. 90 C 3986, 1994 WL 91960, at *3 (N.D.Ill. Mar. 18, 1994) (in § 1983 action by inmate against correctional officers, evidence of plaintiffs prior criminal record “must be limited to the crime charged, the date of the conviction and the disposition.”) (citing Gora). The jury is not entitled to learn “the ugly details” of plaintiffs crimes. Wilson v. City of Chicago, 6 F.3d 1233, 1237 (7th Cir.1993), cert, denied, 511 U.S. 1088, 114 S.Ct. 1844, 128 L.Ed.2d 470 (1994). See also Young, 1995 WL 169020, at *4 (defendants “may not elicit any details as to the nature of [plaintiffs] offense.”); Bustamante, 1995 WL 76900, at *2 (“The details of the crimes underlying the convictions do not bear directly on Plaintiffs credibility and are therefore not admissible for the purpose of impeachment.”) (citing Wilson). During defendants’ case-in-chief, defense witnesses may refer only to the total number of plaintiffs prior convictions, if such number played a part in plaintiffs housing classification, without any detail as the nature of the crime, when it was committed, etc.

Similarly, during his tenure with the DOC, plaintiff has had the following fifteen disciplinary charges brought against him:

[406] [[Image here]]

(Dkt. # 160, Exhs. A & C).

Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) provides Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident ...

A similar issue was discussed in Withers, in which the district judge held that plaintiffs disciplinary history would be admissible, only:

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James v. Tilghman, 194 F.R.D. 402, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22216, 1999 WL 33117427 (D. Conn. 1999).

194 F.R.D. 402 (James v. Tilghman) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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