Golden v. Feudner et al

Filing 95

ORDER signed by Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr on 3/2/12 IN RESPONSE to 92 Defendant's Requested Modifications to Trial Documents. (Donati, J)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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Edwin Golden,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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S. Feudner,

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Defendant.
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2:08-cv-00356-GEB-DAD
COURT’S RESPONSE TO
DEFENDANT’S REQUESTED
MODIFICATIONS TO TRIAL
DOCUMENTS

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Defendant has requested modifications to the proposed voir

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dire and verdict forms, and certain of the proposed jury instructions,

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which were transmitted to the parties on February 29, 2012. Defendant’s

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requests are addressed below.

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A.

Defendant

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Requested Instruction Concerning Defendant’s Medical Condition
requests

that

the

Court

instruct

the

jury

as

follows:
Officer Feudner suffers from back pain which
is aggravated by prolonged sitting or standing. As
a result, the Court has granted Officer Feudner
permission to stand up and move about during trial
when his pain or discomfort makes it necessary for
him to do so. You should not draw any negative
inferences against Officer Feudner for moving about
when his back pain makes it necessary for him to do
so.
(Def.’s Request for Relief 2:1-5, ECF No. 92.)
This

instruction

will

not

be

used;

however,

Defendant’s

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counsel may comment on Defendant’s medical condition during voir dire

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when she is given the opportunity to introduce herself and her client.

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B.

Requested Modifications to Voir Dire

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Defendant requests that the Court’s proposed voir dire be

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modified to include certain additional questions. (Def.’s Proposed

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Modifications to Trial Documents (“Def.’s Prop. Mods.”) 3:13-5:3, ECF

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No. 94.) These additional questions will not be included in the Court’s

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voir dire. However, in light of Defendant’s request, each party will be

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given fifteen minutes for follow up voir dire after the Court concludes

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its voir dire.

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C.

Requested Modifications to Jury Instructions

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Defendant requests that the following language be added to

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preliminary jury instruction No. 4: “If at any time you cannot hear or

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see the testimony, evidence, questions, or arguments, let me know so

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that I can correct the problem.” Id. 2:1-3. A modified version of this

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proposed additional language has been added to the end of preliminary

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jury instruction No. 2.1

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Defendant requests closing instruction No. 4 be given as a

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preliminary

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granted; the instruction has been added as preliminary instruction No.

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4.

instruction.

Id.

at

2:4-10,

2:17-18.

This

request

is

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Defendant requests the last line of closing instruction No. 3

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be modified to read, “any fact to which the parties have agreed.” Id. at

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2:15-16. This request is granted.

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Defendant requests closing instruction No. 8 be modified to

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address “a potential contradiction” concerning the first element of

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Plaintiff’s First Amendment retaliation claim, i.e. that he engaged in

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activity

protected

by

the

First

Amendment.

Id.

at

2:19-3:2.

In

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A revised set of proposed jury instructions and verdict forms
are attached hereto.
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considering this requested modification, the Court realized it failed to

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recognize Defendant stated this element is established in his proposed

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jury instruction concerning the elements of Plaintiff’s First Amendment

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retaliation claim. Specifically, Defendant’s proposed jury instruction

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No. 25 states in relevant part, “Under the First Amendment, an inmate

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[has] the right to file a prison administrative grievance. Therefore, I

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instruct you that the first element requires no proof.” (Def.’s Proposed

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Jury Instructions, 30:20-21, ECF No. 82.) Since Defendant admitted that

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the first element of Plaintiff’s First Amendment retaliation claim has

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been established, closing instruction No. 8 has been modified to remove

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this element. The introductory paragraph, which explains the nature of

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Plaintiff’s First Amendment retaliation claim, has been modified as

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well.

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Defendant requests closing jury instruction No. 9 be modified

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to clarify “that compensatory damages are designed only to compensate

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the plaintiff, and cannot include any sum intended for the purpose of

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punishing the defendant or serving as an example to or warning for

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others.” (Def.’s Prop. Mods. 3:3-6.) Specifically, Defendant requests

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that a portion of “paragraph 2 of this instruction be modified [to

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read]:”
Compensatory damages means the amount of money that
will reasonably and fairly compensate the plaintiff
for any injury that you determine Defendant caused.
You should consider the nature and extent of the
deprivation experienced. An award of compensatory
damages cannot include any sum for the purpose of
punishing the Defendant, or to serve as an example
or warning for others.

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Id.

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“compensatory” has been added to additional portions of this instruction

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and closing instruction No. 9, which concerns the award of nominal

at 3:7-12. Defendant’s request is granted. Further, the word

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damages, so that the jury instructions on damages consistently refer to

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“compensatory damages” as such.
D.

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Requested Modifications to Verdict Forms

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Defendant “objects to the Court’s use of general verdict

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forms[,]” arguing “the use of . . . special verdict form[s] would aid

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the parties by narrowing and clarifying any issues for appeal.” Id. at

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5:5-8. Defendant also argues “[t]he failure to employ special verdict

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forms may also hinder Defendant’s ability to assert the defense of

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qualified immunity[; b]ecause the jury’s determination of the facts,

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including whether a reasonable mistake of fact occurred, is critical to

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portions of the qualified-immunity analysis, the use special verdict

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forms would ensure the proper outcome.” Id. at 5:9-10 (internal citation

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omitted).
Defendant’s objection to the use of a general verdict form is

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overruled.

See

Floyd

v.

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1991)(stating “[a]s a general rule, the court has complete discretion

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over whether to have the jury return a special verdict or a general

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verdict”). However, the verdict form has been modified to include

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special

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affirmative defense, which the jury will answer only if they find

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Defendant liable on Plaintiff’s First Amendment retaliation claim. These

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special interrogatories are based upon Defendant’s proposed Special

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Verdict

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reasonableness of Defendant’s actions. However, the wording of these

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special interrogatories has been modified to better tailor them to the

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facts

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interrogatories have been included to fully address the objective

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reasonableness of Defendant’s conduct in both submitting his June 26,

interrogatories

Form

at

in

929

concerning

Questions

issue

Laws,

Nos.

this

F.2d

Defendant’s

8-10

and

litigation,

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1390,

(9th

qualified

concern

and

1395

the

additional

Cir.

immunity

objective

special

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2007, disciplinary charge and searching the dorm where Plaintiff was

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housed on June 25, 2007. Further, Defendant’s proposed Special Verdict

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Form Questions Nos. 11 and 12 are not included since Defendant admits

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that they “contain elements of the underlying retaliation claim.”

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(Def.’s Prop. Mods. 5:23-24.) The jury will necessarily decide these

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questions when it is submitted Plaintiff’s retaliation claim.

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Dated:

March 2, 2012

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GARLAND E. BURRELL, JR.
United States District Judge

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

Edwin Golden,
Plaintiff,
v.
S. Feudner,
Defendant.
______________________________

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2:08-cv-00356-GEB-DAD
PRELIMINARY JURY
INSTRUCTIONS

Preliminary Instruction No. 1

Ladies and gentlemen: You are now the jury in this case. It
is my duty to instruct you on the law.
You must not infer from these instructions or from anything
I may say or do as indicating that I have an opinion regarding the
evidence or what your verdict should be.
It is your duty to find the facts from all the evidence in the
case. To those facts you will apply the law as I give it to you. You
must follow the law as I give it to you whether you agree with it or
not. And you must not be influenced by any personal likes or
dislikes, opinions, prejudices, or sympathy. That means that you must
decide the case solely on the evidence before you. You will recall
that you took an oath to do so.
In following my instructions, you must follow all of them and
not single out some and ignore others; they are all important.

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Preliminary Instruction No. 2

There are rules of evidence that control what can be received
into evidence. When Plaintiff or Defendant’s counsel asks a question
or offers an exhibit into evidence and the other party thinks that
it is not permitted by the rules of evidence, that party may object.
If I overrule the objection, the question may be answered or the
exhibit received. If I sustain the objection, the question cannot be
answered, and the exhibit cannot be received. Whenever I sustain an
objection to a question, you must ignore the question and must not
guess what the answer might have been.
Sometimes I may order that evidence be stricken from the
record and that you disregard or ignore the evidence. That means that
when you are deciding the case, you must not consider the evidence
that I told you to disregard.
If at any time you cannot hear or see what is said or shown
during the trial, let me know so that I can correct the problem.

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Preliminary Instruction No. 3

I am now going to give you jury admonitions that you must
remember.

When we take recesses I will reference these admonitions

by telling you to remember the admonitions or something similar to
that.

You are required to follow these admonitions whether or not

I remind you to remember them:
First, keep an open mind throughout the trial, and do not
decide what the verdict should be until you and your fellow jurors
have completed your deliberations at the end of the case.
Second, because you must decide this case based only on the
evidence received in the case and on my instructions as to the law
that applies, you must not be exposed to any other information about
the case or to the issues it involves during the course of your jury
duty.

Thus, until the end of the case or unless I tell you

otherwise:
Do not communicate with anyone in any way and do not let
anyone else communicate with you in any way about the merits of the
case or anything to do with it.

This includes discussing the case

in person, in writing, by phone or electronic means, via e-mail, text
messaging, or any Internet chat room, blog, web site or other
feature. This applies to communicating with your fellow jurors until
I give you the case for deliberation, and it applies to communicating

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with everyone else including your family members, your employer, and
the people involved in the trial, although you may notify your family
and your employer that you have been seated as a juror in the case.
But, if you are asked or approached in any way about your jury
service or anything about this case, you must respond that you have
been ordered not to discuss the matter and to report the contact to
the court.
Because

you

will

receive

all

the

evidence

and

instruction you properly may consider to return a verdict:

legal
do not

read, watch, or listen to any news or media accounts or commentary
about the case or anything to do with it; do not do any research,
such as consulting dictionaries, searching the Internet or using
other reference materials; and do not make any investigation or in
any other way try to learn about the case on your own.
The law requires these restrictions to ensure the parties have
a fair trial based on the same evidence that each party has had an
opportunity to address.
Third, if you need to communicate with me, simply give a
signed note to my courtroom clerk, or to the court reporter if my
courtroom clerk is not present, who will give it to me.

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Preliminary Instruction No. 4

In reaching your verdict, you may consider only the testimony
and exhibits received into evidence. Certain things are not evidence,
and you may not consider them in deciding what the facts are. I will
list them for you:
First, arguments and statements by the defendant's counsel and
by the plaintiff except when the plaintiff was testifying under oath
are not evidence. The defendant's counsel is not a witness and the
plaintiff is not a witness except when he testified under oath. What
they have said in their opening statements, closing arguments, and
at other times is intended to help you interpret the evidence, but
it is not evidence. If the facts as you remember them differ from the
way the defendant's counsel and the plaintiff have stated them, your
memory of the facts controls.
Second, questions and objections by the parties are not
evidence. The parties have a duty to object when they believe a
question is improper under the rules of evidence. You should not be
influenced by the objection or by the court's ruling on it.
Third, testimony that has been excluded or stricken, or that
you have been instructed to disregard, is not evidence and must not
be considered. In addition, sometimes testimony and exhibits are
received

only

for

a

limited

purpose;

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if

I

gave

a

limiting

instruction, you must follow it.
Fourth, anything you may have seen or heard when the court was
not in session is not evidence. You are to decide the case solely on
the evidence received at the trial.

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Preliminary Instruction No. 5

At the end of the trial, you will have to make your decision
based on what you recall of the evidence. You will not have a
transcript of the trial.

I urge you to pay close attention to the

testimony as it is given.

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Preliminary Instruction No. 6

If you wish, you may take notes to help you remember what
witnesses said. If you do take notes, please keep them to yourself
until you and your fellow jurors go to the jury room to decide the
case. Do not let note-taking distract you so that you do not hear
other answers by witnesses. When you leave, your notes shall be left
on the seat on which you are seated.

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Preliminary Instruction No. 7

From time to time during the trial, it may become necessary
for me to talk with the parties out of the hearing of the jury,
either by having a conference at the bench when the jury is present
in the courtroom, or by calling a recess. Please understand that
while

you

are

waiting,

we

are

working.

The

purpose

of

these

conferences is not to keep relevant information from you, but to
decide how certain evidence is to be treated under the rules of
evidence and to avoid confusion and error.
We will, of course, do what we can to keep the number and
length of these conferences to a minimum. I may not always grant a
party's request for a conference. Do not consider my granting or
denying a request for a conference as any indication of my opinion
of the case or of what your verdict should be.

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Preliminary Instruction No. 8

The next phase of the trial will now begin. First, each side
may make an opening statement. An opening statement is not evidence.
It is simply an outline to help you understand what that party
expects the evidence will show. A party is not required to make an
opening statement.
Plaintiff will then present evidence, and defendant’s counsel
may cross-examine. Then defendant may present evidence, and plaintiff
may cross-examine.
After the evidence has been presented, the parties will make
closing arguments and I will instruct you on the law that applies to
the case.
After that, you will go to the jury room to deliberate on your
verdict.

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

Edwin Golden,
Plaintiff,
v.
S. Feudner,
Defendant.
______________________________

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2:08-cv-00356-GEB-DAD
CLOSING JURY INSTRUCTIONS

Instruction No. 1

Members of the jury, now that you have heard all the evidence
and the arguments of the parties, it is my duty to instruct you on
the law which applies to this case. Each of you is in possession of
a copy of these jury instructions, which you may take into the jury
room for your use if you find it necessary.
It is your duty to find the facts from all the evidence in the
case.

To those facts you must apply the law as I give it to you.

You must follow the law as I give it to you whether you agree with
it or not.

And you must not be influenced by any personal likes or

dislikes, opinions, prejudices or sympathy. That means that you must
decide the case solely on the evidence before you and according to
the law.

You will recall that you took an oath promising to do so

at the beginning of the case.
In following my instructions, you must follow all of them and
not

single

important.

out

some

and

ignore

others;

they

are

all

equally

Unless I state otherwise, the instructions apply to each

party.

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Instruction No. 2

When a party has the burden of proof on any claim by a
preponderance of the evidence, it means you must be persuaded by the
evidence that the claim is more probably true than not true.
You

should

base

your

decision

regardless of which party presented it.

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on

all

of

the

evidence,

Instruction No. 3

The evidence you are to consider in deciding what the facts
are consists of:
the sworn testimony of any witness;
the exhibits that are received into evidence; and
any facts to which the parties have agreed.

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Instruction No. 4

In reaching your verdict, you may consider only the testimony
and exhibits received into evidence. Certain things are not evidence,
and you may not consider them in deciding what the facts are. I will
list them for you:
First, arguments and statements by the defendant's counsel and
by the plaintiff except when the plaintiff was testifying under oath
are not evidence. The defendant's counsel is not a witness and the
plaintiff is not a witness except when he testified under oath. What
they have said in their opening statements, closing arguments, and
at other times is intended to help you interpret the evidence, but
it is not evidence. If the facts as you remember them differ from the
way the defendant's counsel and the plaintiff have stated them, your
memory of the facts controls.
Second, questions and objections by the parties are not
evidence. The parties have a duty to object when they believe a
question is improper under the rules of evidence. You should not be
influenced by the objection or by the court's ruling on it.
Third, testimony that has been excluded or stricken, or that
you have been instructed to disregard, is not evidence and must not
be considered. In addition, sometimes testimony and exhibits are
received

only

for

a

limited

purpose;

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if

I

gave

a

limiting

instruction, you must follow it.
Fourth, anything you may have seen or heard when the court was
not in session is not evidence. You are to decide the case solely on
the evidence received at the trial.

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Instruction No. 5

Evidence may be direct or circumstantial. Direct evidence is
direct proof of a fact, such as testimony by a witness about what
that witness personally saw or heard or did. Circumstantial evidence
is proof of one or more facts from which you could find another fact.
You should consider both direct and circumstantial evidence.
The law makes no distinction between the weight to be given to either
direct or circumstantial evidence.
weight to give to any evidence.

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It is for you to decide how much

Instruction No. 6

In deciding the facts in this case, you may have to decide
which testimony to believe and which testimony not to believe. You
may believe everything a witness says, or part of it, or none of it.
Proof of a fact does not necessarily depend on the number of
witnesses who testify about it.
In considering the testimony of any witness, you may take into
account:
the opportunity and ability of the witness to see or hear or
know the things testified to;
the witness's memory;
the witness's manner while testifying;
the witness's interest in the outcome of the case and any bias
or prejudice;
whether other evidence contradicted the witness's testimony;
the reasonableness of the witness's testimony in light of all
the evidence; and
any other factors that bear on believability.
The weight of the evidence as to a fact does not necessarily
depend on the number of witnesses who testify about it.

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Instruction No. 7

The evidence that a witness has been convicted of a crime may
be considered, along with all other evidence, in deciding whether to
believe the witness and how much weight to give to the testimony of
the witness, but for no other purpose.

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Instruction No. 8

Plaintiff alleges that Defendant violated his right under the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution by retaliating
against him for seeking redress of a prison grievance. A state
prisoner engages in First Amendment protected activity when he or she
asserts a grievance with prison officials. Retaliation against a
prisoner for exercising the right to seek redress of a prison
grievance violates the prisoner’s First Amendment right. It is
undisputed that Plaintiff engaged in the First Amended protected
activity of asserting a prison grievance.
To prevail on his First Amendment retaliation claim, Plaintiff
must prove each of the following elements by a preponderance of the
evidence:
First, Defendant took adverse action or actions against
Plaintiff;
Second, Plaintiff’s First Amendment protected activity was a
substantial or motivating factor for the Defendant’s action or
actions;
Third, Defendant’s adverse action or actions resulted in more
than minimal harm to Plaintiff or would chill a person of ordinary
firmness in the exercise of his right to present a prison grievance;
and

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Fourth,

Defendant’s

adverse

action

or

actions

did

not

reasonably advance a legitimate penological goal.

A substantial or motivating factor is a significant factor.
Timing can be considered as circumstantial evidence of retaliatory
motive. However, neither timing alone nor sheer speculation is
sufficient to show that a plaintiff’s protected conduct was a
substantial or motivating factor for a defendant’s adverse action or
actions. A plaintiff must show a nexus between his or her First
Amendment protected activity and a defendant’s adverse action or
actions.
Whether any action taken by a defendant reasonably advanced a
legitimate

penological

goal

is

evaluated

in

the

light

of

the

deference given to prison officials in the adoption and execution of
policies and practices that in their reasonable judgment are needed
to preserve discipline and to maintain internal security in a
prisons.

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Instruction No. 9

It is my duty to instruct you about the measure of damages. By
instructing you on damages, I do not mean to suggest for which party
your verdict should be rendered.
If

you

compensatory

find

for

damages.

the

The

plaintiff,

plaintiff

has

you
the

must

determine

burden

of

his

proving

compensatory damages by a preponderance of the evidence. Compensatory
damages means the amount of money that will reasonably and fairly
compensate the plaintiff for any injury that you determine Defendant
caused. You should consider the nature and extent of the deprivation
experienced. An award of compensatory damages cannot include any sum
for the purpose of punishing Defendant, or to serve as an example or
warning for others.
It is for you to determine what compensatory damages, if any,
have been proved.
Your award must be based on evidence and not on speculation,
guesswork, or conjecture.

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Instruction No. 10

The law that applies to this case authorizes an award of
nominal damages. If you find for the plaintiff but you find that the
plaintiff has failed to prove compensatory damages as defined in
these instructions, you must award nominal damages. Nominal damages
may not exceed one dollar.

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Instruction No. 11

If you find for the plaintiff, you must determine if
Defendant’s conduct justifies an award of punitive damages.
The plaintiff has the burden to prove by a preponderance of
the evidence that punitive damages should be awarded. The amount of
punitive damages, if any, will be decided later.
You may award punitive damages only if you find that the
defendant's

conduct

that

harmed

the

plaintiff

was

malicious,

oppressive, or in reckless disregard of the plaintiff's rights.
Conduct is malicious if it is accompanied by ill will, or spite, or
if it is for the purpose of injuring the plaintiff.
reckless

disregard

of

the

plaintiff's

rights

Conduct is in
if,

under

the

circumstances, it reflects complete indifference to the plaintiff's
safety or rights, or if the defendant acts in the face of a perceived
risk that its actions will violate the plaintiff's rights under
federal law.

An act or omission is oppressive if the defendant

injures or damages or otherwise violates the rights of the plaintiff
with unnecessary harshness or severity, such as by the misuse or
abuse of authority or power or by the taking advantage of some
weakness or disability or misfortune of the plaintiff.

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Instruction No. 12

When you begin your deliberations, you should elect one member
of the jury as your presiding juror.

That person will preside over

the deliberations and speak for you here in court.
You will then discuss the case with your fellow jurors to
reach agreement if you can do so.

Your verdict must be unanimous.

Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but you should
do so only after you have considered all of the evidence, discussed
it fully with the other jurors, and listened to the views of your
fellow jurors.
Do not hesitate to change your opinion if the discussion
persuades you that you should. Do not come to a decision simply
because other jurors think it is right.
It is important that you attempt to reach a unanimous verdict
but, of course, only if each of you can do so after having made your
own conscientious decision. Do not change an honest belief about the
weight and effect of the evidence simply to reach a verdict.

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Instruction No. 13

If

it

becomes

necessary

during

your

deliberations

to

communicate with me, you may send a note through the United States
Marshal's representative, signed by your presiding juror or by one or
more members of the jury.

No member of the jury should ever attempt

to communicate with me except by a signed writing; I will communicate
with any member of the jury on anything concerning the case only in
writing, or here in open court.

If you send out a question, I will

consult with the parties before answering it, which may take some
time.

You may continue your deliberations while waiting for the

answer

to

any

question.

Remember

that

you

are

not

to

tell

anyone-including me-how the jury stands, numerically or otherwise,
until after you have reached a unanimous verdict or have been
discharged.

Do not disclose any vote count in any note to the court.

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Instruction No. 14

A verdict form has been prepared for you. After you have
reached unanimous agreement on a verdict, your foreperson will fill
in the form that will be given to you, sign and date it and advise
the United States Marshal's representative outside your door that you
are ready to return to the courtroom.

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Instruction No. 15

You must now decide the amount, if any, of punitive damages
that you should award Plaintiff. The plaintiff has the burden of
proving the amount of any such damages by a preponderance of the
evidence.
The purposes of punitive damages are to punish a defendant and
to deter similar acts in the future. Punitive damages may not be
awarded to compensate a plaintiff.
If you find that punitive damages are appropriate, you must
use reason in setting the amount. Punitive damages, if any, should be
in an amount sufficient to fulfill their purposes but should not
reflect bias, prejudice or sympathy toward any party. In considering
the

amount

of

any

punitive

damages,

consider

reprehensibility of the defendant’s conduct.

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the

degree

of

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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Edwin Golden,
Plaintiff,

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v.

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S. Feudner,

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Defendant.
________________________________

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2:08-cv-00356-GEB-DAD
VERDICT FORM

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WE THE JURY UNANIMOUSLY FIND THE FOLLOWING VERDICT ON THE SUBMITTED
QUESTIONS:

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Question No. 1:
Answer:

Does Plaintiff prevail on his retaliation claim?
____ Yes

_____ No

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(If you answered “yes,” continue to Question No. 2. If you answered

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“no,” then proceed to the last page and sign, date and return this

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verdict form.)

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Question No. 2:

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to Plaintiff?

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What is the amount of compensatory damages you award

$ ____________

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(If you entered an amount of more than $0, proceed to Question No. 4. If

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you entered $0, proceed to Question No. 3.)

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1

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Question No. 3:

2

retaliation claim, but that Plaintiff is not entitled to compensatory

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damages, you must award an amount of nominal damages not to exceed

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$1.00. What is your award of nominal damages?

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If you have found that Plaintiff prevails on his

$ ____________
(Continue to Question No. 4.)

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Question NO. 4:

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claim?

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Answer:

Does

Plaintiff

____ Yes

prevail

on

his punitive damages

_____ No

(Continue to Question No. 5.)

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Question NO. 5:

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believed that there was a legitimate peneological reason to submit

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Defendant’s June 26, 2007 report, which summarized his interactions with

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Plaintiff on June 15, 2007, and June 22, 2007?

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Answer:

Do you find that a reasonable officer could have

____ Yes

_____ No

(Continue to Question No. 6.)

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Question NO. 6:

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known that submitting Defendant’s June 26, 2007 report, which summarized

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his interactions with Plaintiff on June 15, 2007 and June 22, 2007,

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would result in more than minimal harm to Plaintiff?

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Answer:

Do you find that a reasonable officer would have

____ Yes

_____ No

(Continue to Question No. 7.)

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Question NO. 7:

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known that submitting Defendant’s June 26, 2007 report, which summarized

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his interactions with Plaintiff on June 15, 2007 and June 22, 2007,

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would chill a person of ordinary firmness in the exercise of his First

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Amendment protected right to seek redress of a prison grievance?

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Answer:

Do you find that a reasonable officer would have

____ Yes

_____ No

(Continue to Question No. 8.)

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Question NO. 8:

Do you find that a reasonable officer could have

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believed that there was a legitimate peneological reason for Defendant

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to conduct a search of the dorm where Plaintiff was housed on June 25,

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2007?

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Answer:

____ Yes

_____ No

(Continue to Question No. 9.)

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Question NO. 9:

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known that Defendant’s actions during the June 25, 2007, search of the

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dorm where Plaintiff was housed would result in more than minimal harm

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to Plaintiff?

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Answer:

Do you find that a reasonable officer would have

____ Yes

_____ No

(Continue to Question No. 10.)

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///

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///

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///

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///

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///
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Question NO. 10:

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known that Defendant’s actions during the June 25, 2007, search of the

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dorm where Plaintiff was housed would chill a person of ordinary

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firmness in the exercise of his First Amendment protected right to seek

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redress of a prison grievance?

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Answer:

Do you find that a reasonable officer would have

____ Yes

_____ No

(Please date, sign and return this verdict.)

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Dated this _______ day of March, 2012

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________________________________________
JURY FOREPERSON

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