Morrell v. Sampson

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 5, 2025
Docket9:22-cv-00713
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Morrell v. Sampson, (N.D.N.Y. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

LEROY MORRELL,

Plaintiff,

v. 9:22-cv-00713 (AMN/ML)

SGT. GLENN R. SAMPSON and C.O. PATRICK H. BOULTER,

Defendants.

APPEARANCES: OF COUNSEL:

SIVIN, MILLER & ROCHE EDWARD SIVIN, ESQ. 20 Vesey Street, Suite 1400 DAVID ROCHE, ESQ. New York, NY 10007 DUANE G. BLACKMAN, ESQ. GLENN D. MILLER, ESQ. Attorneys for Plaintiff

NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL M. RANDOLPH BELKIN, ESQ. Litigation Bureau RYAN W. HICKEY, ESQ. The Capitol Assistant Attorneys General Albany, New York 12224 Attorneys for Defendants Hon. Anne M. Nardacci, United States District Judge: MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER I. INTRODUCTION On July 1, 2022, Leroy Morrell (“Plaintiff”) commenced this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting civil rights claims against Defendants Sergeant Glenn Sampson and Correction Officer Patrick H. Boulter (“Defendants”) arising from his incarceration at Watertown Correctional Facility (“Watertown”). See Dkt. No. 1. After motion practice, Plaintiff maintains one Eighth Amendment failure-to-intervene claim against each Defendant. See Dkt. No. 35 at 21.1 Trial is set to commence on September 8, 2025. See Dkt. No. 65. Presently before the Court are motions in limine from Plaintiff and Defendants, Dkt. Nos. 50, 58, and corresponding responses in opposition, Dkt. Nos. 59, 60. For the reasons set forth below, both motions are granted in part, denied in part, and reserved in part.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW The purpose of a motion in limine is to allow the trial court to rule in advance of trial on the admissibility and relevance of certain forecasted evidence. See Luce v. United States, 469 U.S. 38, 40 n.2 (1984); Palmieri v. Defaria, 88 F.3d 136, 141 (2d Cir. 1996); Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh v. L.E. Myers Co., 937 F. Supp. 276, 283 (S.D.N.Y. 1996). “Evidence should be excluded on a motion in limine only when the evidence is clearly inadmissible on all potential grounds.” United States v. Paredes, 176 F. Supp. 2d 179, 181 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (citations omitted). “[C]ourts considering a motion in limine may reserve decision until trial, so that the motion is placed in the appropriate factual context.” Jean-Laurent v. Hennessy, 840 F. Supp. 2d 529, 536 (E.D.N.Y. 2011) (citing Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co., 937 F. Supp. at 287). Further, a district court’s

ruling on a motion in limine is preliminary and “subject to change when the case unfolds.” Luce, 469 U.S. at 41. The moving party bears the burden of establishing that evidence is inadmissible for any purpose and so properly excluded on a motion in limine. See United States v. Pugh, 162 F. Supp. 3d 97, 101 (E.D.N.Y. 2016).

1 Citations to court documents utilize the pagination generated by CM/ECF, the Court’s electronic filing system. III. DISCUSSION The Court presumes the Parties’ familiarity with the alleged facts of this case, as set forth in the Complaint, Dkt. No. 1, and the Court’s prior Memorandum-Decision and Order on Defendants’ motion for summary judgment, Dkt. No. 35. In summary, on August 25, 2020, while incarcerated at Watertown Correctional Facility, Plaintiff Leroy Morrell alleges that he was

attacked by other incarcerated individuals in the dayroom of his housing unit. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants witnessed the attack and were capable of intervening but failed to do so. Defendants deny witnessing the alleged attack and dispute that an attack took place in the manner that Plaintiff alleges. A. Plaintiff’s Motion in Limine Plaintiff’s motion in limine seeks the following: (1) an order limiting evidence regarding Plaintiff’s prior criminal conviction for attempted sexual abuse; (2) an order precluding Plaintiff’s criminal convictions that are older than ten years; and (3) an order excluding Plaintiff’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (“DOCCS”) disciplinary history. See generally Dkt. No. 50. The Court addresses each request in turn.

i. 2010 Attempted Sexual Abuse Conviction First, Plaintiff acknowledges that his prior attempted sexual abuse conviction is subject to potential impeachment under Fed. R. Evid. 609(a)(1)(A). See Dkt. No. 50 at 5. However, Plaintiff argues that any use of the conviction for impeachment should be limited to its “essential facts,” specifically “the nature of the offense, the date of the conviction, and the sentence imposed.” Id. More specifically, Plaintiff requests that “no details be introduced regarding the underlying circumstances of the offense, the identity of any alleged victim, or any inflammatory or salacious facts that are not relevant to the jury’s assessment of plaintiff’s credibility.” Id. In their own motion in limine, Defendants confirm that they intend to use Plaintiff’s attempted sexual abuse conviction for impeachment, including, at least, the “‘essential facts’ of Plaintiff’s felony convictions, including the statutory names of the offenses, the dates of conviction, and the overall sentences imposed.” Dkt. No. 58 at 7. However, Defendants’ response to Plaintiff’s motion in limine clarifies that Defendants may also seek to reference and solicit

additional details of the conviction, such as the victim’s age, based on Plaintiff’s assertion that the assault relevant to this case was motivated by the facts of the attempted sexual abuse conviction. Dkt. No. 60 at 4. Defendants argue that because Plaintiff “alleges that the Defendants were aware of Plaintiff’s conviction and orchestrated an attack by five inmates[,]” he has opened the door to impeachment using additional details of the conviction. Dkt. No. 60 at 3. Therefore, the Parties’ submissions present two issues: (1) whether the “essential facts” of the attempted sexual abuse conviction are admissible for impeachment purposes; and (2) whether additional facts related to the conviction, including the victim’s age, are admissible for impeachment purposes. In pertinent part, Rule 609(a)(1)(a) provides that, for impeachment purposes, convictions

for “a crime that . . . was punishable . . . by imprisonment for more than one year . . . must be admitted, subject to Rule 403[.]” Id. In interpreting the language “subject to Rule 403,” the Second Circuit has found that Rule 609(a)(1)(a) “requires district courts to admit the name of a conviction, its date, and the sentence imposed unless the district court determines that the probative value of that evidence ‘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.’” United States v. Estrada, 430 F.3d 606, 621 (2d Cir. 2005) (quoting Fed. R. Evid. 403) (emphasis added). “In ‘balancing the probative value against prejudicial effect under Rule 609, courts examine the following factors: (1) the impeachment value of the prior crime, (2) the remoteness of the prior conviction, (3) the similarity between the past crime and the conduct at issue, and (4) the importance of the credibility of the witness.’” Thomas v. Leifeld, No. 9:13-CV-321, 2018 WL 3387690, at *2 (N.D.N.Y. July 12, 2018) (quoting Daniels v. Loizzo, 986 F. Supp. 245, 250 (S.D.N.Y. 1997) (additional citations omitted)).

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Related

Luce v. United States
469 U.S. 38 (Supreme Court, 1984)
United States v. Jesus Ortiz
553 F.2d 782 (Second Circuit, 1977)
Lee D. Zinman v. Black & Decker (u.s.), Inc.
983 F.2d 431 (Second Circuit, 1993)
Daniels v. Loizzo
986 F. Supp. 245 (S.D. New York, 1997)
National Union Fire Insurance v. L.E. Myers Co. Group
937 F. Supp. 276 (S.D. New York, 1996)
United States v. Brown
606 F. Supp. 2d 306 (E.D. New York, 2009)
United States v. Paredes
176 F. Supp. 2d 179 (S.D. New York, 2001)
Ames v. N.Y. State Dep't of Corr. & Cmty. Supervision
669 F. App'x 41 (Second Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Pugh
162 F. Supp. 3d 97 (E.D. New York, 2016)
United States v. Serrano
192 F. Supp. 3d 407 (S.D. New York, 2016)
Jean-Laurent v. Hennessy
840 F. Supp. 2d 529 (E.D. New York, 2011)
Phillips v. City of New York
871 F. Supp. 2d 200 (E.D. New York, 2012)

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