Williams, Derek v. Schmidt et al

Filing 145

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 114 Motion in Limine; granting 121 Motion in Limine; granting 122 Motion in Limine. Plaintiff's objection to Dr. Anna Salter's expert testimony, Dkt. 130 , is OVERRULED. Todd Hamilton is DISMISSED as a defendant from this case. Signed by District Judge James D. Peterson on 8/5/2019. (jef),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

DEREK M. WILLIAMS,

v.

Plaintiff,

DR. SCHMIDT, DR. BREEN,
TODD HAMILTON, and DR. OLBINSKI,

OPINION and ORDER
14-cv-487-jdp

Defendants.
Plaintiff Derek Williams alleges that defendants Steven Schmidt, Martha Breen, and
Katie Olbinski, psychologists at Green Bay Correctional Institution, acted with deliberate
indifference to Williams’s mental health needs by refusing to assign him to a male psychologist
and persisting with treatment that they knew was ineffective. Trial is scheduled for August 26,
2019. Before the court are the parties’ motions in limine.
Williams filed two motions. First, he seeks to exclude evidence of his criminal history
and prison disciplinary history as irrelevant to the issues remaining in this case and unduly
prejudicial. Dkt. 121. Second, he seeks to exclude references to the claims that were dismissed
from this case at earlier stages. Dkt. 122. Williams’s arguments are persuasive, and defendants
do not oppose the motions, so I will grant both motions.
Williams also filed an objection to defendants’ identification of Dr. Anna Salter as an
expert witness. Dkt. 130. Salter is a consulting psychologist who interviewed Williams in
November and December 2012. Williams argues that defendants failed to disclose Salter as an
expert and failed to timely provide an expert report. But defendants disclosed Salter in their
expert disclosures on April 3, 2017. Dkt. 70. Defendants’ disclosures state that Salter will
testify about her April 30, 2013 report, that the report is contained in Williams’s psychological

services file, and that the report was submitted in support of defendants’ motion for summary
judgment. Id. at 4–5. I conclude that defendants’ disclosure is adequate. Williams has had
access to Salter’s report for more than two years and since before defendants’ deadlines for
expert disclosures. Williams has not shown that he was prejudiced by defendants’ failure to
send another copy of Salter’s report with their expert disclosures.
Defendants filed an omnibus motion in limine, seeking to exclude evidence and
argument regarding (1) Williams’s mental health care claims against Todd Hamilton; (2)
Williams’s mental health care claims against defendant Steven Schmidt dating post-June 2012;
and (3) all Williams’s conditions of confinement claims. Dkt. 114. Defendants argue that the
only question remaining for trial is whether defendants Schmidt, Breen, and Olbinski were
deliberately indifferent to Williams’s mental health care needs between August 2009 and June
5, 2012. Williams opposes the motion, arguing that that he should not be restricted from
introducing evidence about his mental health treatment before or after 2009 that is relevant
to his claims.
I will grant defendants’ motion in part and deny it in part. Williams may introduce
evidence regarding his mental health and the treatment he has received while incarcerated,
including evidence of treatment outside the relevant time period. I agree with Williams that
such evidence provides relevant background information about his mental health needs and
context for his claims. For example, Williams’s treatment by, and relationship with, a
Department of Corrections psychologist in 2003 is highly relevant to his claims in this case.
But I will preclude Williams from introducing evidence or argument suggesting that he was
subjected to unconstitutional conditions of confinement in observation or that he has received

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inadequate mental health treatment since June 2012. Because Williams has no remaining
claims against Hamilton, I will dismiss Hamilton as a defendant.

ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff Derek Williams’s motions in limine, Dkt. 121 and Dkt. 122, are
GRANTED.
2. Defendants’ motion in limine, Dkt. 114, is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN
PART, as set forth above.
3. Plaintiff’s objection to Dr. Anna Salter’s expert testimony, Dkt. 130, is
OVERRULED.
4. Todd Hamilton is DISMISSED as a defendant from this case.
Entered August 5, 2019.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
________________________________________
JAMES D. PETERSON
District Judge

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