Mitchell v. Schwartzenegger et al

Filing 226

ORDER signed by District Judge Robert C. Jones on 10/30/15 ORDERING that the 225 Motion in Limine is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. (Benson, A)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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_____________________________________
JOHN EDWARD MITCHELL,

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Plaintiff,

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vs.
D. ROSARIO et al.

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Defendants.

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2:09-cv-03012-RCJ
AMENDED ORDER

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This is a prisoner civil rights case. Trial is set for November 2, 2015 in Sacramento,

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California. Pending before the Court is a Motion in Limine (ECF No. 225).

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I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

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On October 28, 2009, Plaintiff John Edward Mitchell, a prisoner in the custody of the

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California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) currently incarcerated at

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California State Prison (“CSP”) Corcoran, sued thirteen Defendants in this Court based on events

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that occurred while he was incarcerated at CSP Solano. Plaintiff alleged that on August 5, 2008,

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he refused to be placed into a cell with a new, unfamiliar cell mate, asking to be put into

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administrative segregation instead. Eventually, guards interpreted his requests as noncompliance

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and tackled him to the ground before taking him to the infirmary and then to administrative

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segregation. When Plaintiff indicated he intended to file a complaint for excessive force, he was

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threatened with 90 days of administrative segregation. Defendants carried out their threat when

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Plaintiff refused to relent and filed his grievance, keeping him in administrative segregation until

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he was transferred to California Men’s Colony on April 28, 2009. The Complaint listed four

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nominal constitutional claims and two nominal state law claims.

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Plaintiff filed two supplemental complaints and separate motions for leave to file an

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amended supplemental complaint and an amended complaint. The magistrate judge instructed

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Plaintiff to consolidate his claims into a single amended complaint and gave him general

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guidance as to pleading. Plaintiff filed the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) on March 4,

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2010. The FAC lists seven nominal claims: (1) excessive force in violation of the Eighth

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Amendment; (2)–(4), (7) denial of the right to petition the government for redress of grievances

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and retaliation in violation of the First, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments; and (5)–(6)

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violation of the California State Tort Act (“CSTA”). Defendants moved to dismiss the FAC.

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The district judge adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation to dismiss the FAC, with

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leave to amend in part, denying leave to amend: (1) as against Defendants Durfey,

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Schwarzenegger, and Cate for failure to exhaust administrative remedies; (2) as to the fifth claim

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for untimeliness; (3) as to claims for verbal harassment by Defendants Singh, Cappel, McGuire,

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and Fowler; (4) as to the due process components of claims three and seven against Defendants

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Singh, Cappel, Bickham, and Scavetta; (5) as to claim seven as against Defendants Bickham and

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Scavetta; (6) as to the sixth claim for failure to state a claim; (7) and as to the Eighth Amendment

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component of the fourth claim as against Defendants Haviland and Singh.

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On February 23, 2012, Plaintiff filed the Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”), listing

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three claims: (1) excessive force in violation of the Eighth Amendment (against Defendants

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Rosario, Easterling, and Durfey); (2) denial of the right to petition the government for redress of

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grievances and retaliation in violation of the First Amendment (against Defendants Rosario and

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Garcia); and (3) a similar claim (against Defendants Haviland, Singh, Cappel, Bickham, and

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McGuire). Defendants moved to dismiss the SAC. The district judge adopted the magistrate

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judge’s recommendation to dismiss the excessive force claim as against Easterling without

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prejudice; to dismiss the retaliation claims as against Bickham, Cappel, Singh, and Haviland with

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prejudice; and to permit the retaliation claims to proceed as against McGuire. The district judge

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ordered Rosario to answer the excessive force claim and ordered Rosario, Garcia, and McGuire

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to answer the respective First Amendment retaliation claims against them. Defendants jointly

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answered. A settlement conference was unsuccessful. Defendants moved for summary

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judgment. The district judge adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation to grant summary

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judgment as to the retaliation claim against Garcia but otherwise to deny the motion. The Eighth

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Amendment excessive force claim against Rosario and the separate First Amendment retaliation

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claims against Rosario and McGuire remain for trial. Defendants have filed a motion in limine.

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II.

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LEGAL STANDARDS
A motion in limine is a procedural device to obtain an early and preliminary ruling on the

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admissibility of evidence. Black’s Law Dictionary defines it as “[a] pretrial request that certain

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inadmissible evidence not be referred to or offered at trial. Typically, a party makes this motion

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when it believes that mere mention of the evidence during trial would be highly prejudicial and

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could not be remedied by an instruction to disregard.” Black’s Law Dictionary 1171 (10th ed.

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2014). Although the Federal Rules of Evidence do not explicitly authorize a motion in limine,

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the Supreme Court has held that trial judges are authorized to rule on motions in limine pursuant

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to their authority to manage trials. See Luce v. United States, 469 U.S. 38, 41 n.4 (1984) (citing

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Fed. R. Evid. 103(c) (providing that trial should be conducted so as to “prevent inadmissible

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evidence from being suggested to the jury by any means”)).
Judges have broad discretion when ruling on motions in limine. See Jenkins v. Chrysler

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Motors Corp., 316 F.3d 663, 664 (7th Cir. 2002). However, a motion in limine should not be

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used to resolve factual disputes or weigh evidence. See C&E Servs., Inc., v. Ashland, Inc., 539 F.

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Supp. 2d 316, 323 (D.D.C. 2008). To exclude evidence on a motion in limine “the evidence

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must be inadmissible on all potential grounds.” E.g., Ind. Ins. Co. v. Gen. Elec. Co., 326 F. Supp.

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2d 844, 846 (N.D. Ohio 2004). “Unless evidence meets this high standard, evidentiary rulings

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should be deferred until trial so that questions of foundation, relevancy and potential prejudice

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may be resolved in proper context.” Hawthorne Partners v. AT&T Tech., Inc., 831 F. Supp.

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1398, 1400 (N.D. Ill. 1993). This is because although rulings on motions in limine may save

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“time, costs, effort and preparation, a court is almost always better situated during the actual trial

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to assess the value and utility of evidence.” Wilkins v. Kmart Corp., 487 F. Supp. 2d 1216, 1219

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(D. Kan. 2007).

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In limine rulings are preliminary and therefore “are not binding on the trial judge [who]

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may always change his mind during the course of a trial.” Ohler v. United States, 529 U.S. 753,

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758 n.3 (2000); accord Luce, 469 U.S. at 41 (noting that in limine rulings are always subject to

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change, especially if the evidence unfolds in an unanticipated manner). “Denial of a motion in

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limine does not necessarily mean that all evidence contemplated by the motion will be admitted

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to trial. Denial merely means that without the context of trial, the court is unable to determine

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whether the evidence in question should be excluded.” Ind. Ins. Co., 326 F. Supp. 2d at 846.

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III.

ANALYSIS
First, Defendants ask the Court to preclude Plaintiff from offering opinions about the

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cause of his back, shoulder, and mental-health conditions. Defendants argue that under the

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evidence rules, opinions on the causation of injuries may only be rendered by experts. The Court

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disagrees. Although expert opinions under Rule 702 may only be adduced by qualified experts,

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lay opinion may be offered by laymen under Rule 701 so long as the opinion based on the

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witness’s own perception, is helpful to understanding the witness’s testimony, and is not based

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on the kinds of specialized knowledge within the scope of Rule 702. See Fed. R. Evid. 701.

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Plaintiff’s opinion of the cause of his own injuries is within the scope of his lay opinion.

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Plaintiff has direct perceptive knowledge of his pain and function both before and after the

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events at issue. Plaintiff may not testify as to a future prognosis, which would require expert

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medical opinion, but he may testify as to his direct perceptions of pain, function of his own body

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parts, his own mental perceptions, and his perceived causes of those ailments.

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Second, Defendants ask the Court to preclude Plaintiff from referring to any incidents

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that are no longer at issue. The Court grants the motion in part. Although Plaintiff may discuss

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persons who are themselves no longer Defendants so long as the testimony is relevant to claims

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that remain, he may not introduce testimony or argumentation as to events that are only relevant

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to claims that have been dismissed.

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Third, Defendants ask the Court to preclude evidence that any Defendant is a party to

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another lawsuit or was party to other alleged incidents of misconduct. The Court denies the

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motion. Defendants seek to exclude irrelevant evidence and improper character evidence. The

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Court cannot make broad Rule 401 or Rule 404 rulings as to entire categories of potential

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evidence. Evidence of other litigation that is not relevant will not be admissible. But the Court

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cannot say that there is no context in which such evidence might be relevant, particularly in a

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First Amendment retaliation case. Also, any “other acts” evidence will be subject to objection at

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trial under Rule 404(a) and will be subject to exception under Rule 404(b). The Court cannot

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now make a broad ruling without the context of particularly objected-to testimony.

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Fourth, Defendants ask the Court to preclude evidence of the March 25, 2014 settlement

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conference. The Court denies the motion at this time, because the Court does not have any

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proffered testimony to examine under the Rule 408 and the exception listed thereunder.

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Fifth, Defendants ask the Court to preclude evidence that the State of California may pay
any judgment rendered against Defendants as irrelevant and prejudicial. The Court grants the

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motion in this regard. Even if not explicitly barred by Rule 411, such argumentation or evidence

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would be both irrelevant and far more prejudicial than probative, unless Defendants were to first

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argue against damages based on their personal financial conditions.

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Sixth, Defendants ask the Court to rule that the fact of Plaintiff’s (and other witnesses’)

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felony convictions will be admissible for the purposes of impeachment as to any of them who

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testify, assuming the convictions or latest date of incarceration therefore is not greater than ten

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years. The Court grants the motion in this regard. See Fed. R. Evid. 609.

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Seventh, Defendants ask the Court to rule that Sergeant Durfey’s June 20, 2014

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testimony in the case of Draper v. Rosario, No. 2:10-cv-32, is admissible in this case. The Court

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denies the motion. Defendants appear to admit that although Plaintiff was a witness in that case

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he was not a plaintiff, and only Draper’s counsel had an opportunity to examine Durfey. Even

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assuming Plaintiff had a “similar motive” to examine Durfey in the Draper case as Draper

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himself had, Plaintiff as a non-party witness clearly had no “opportunity” to examine Durfey. See

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Fed. R. Evid. 804(b)(1).

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CONCLUSION

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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion in Limine (ECF No. 225) is GRANTED IN
PART AND DENIED IN PART.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated this 30th day of October, 2015.

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_____________________________________
ROBERT C. JONES
United States District Judge

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