Evidence — relevance

Listen to this article

United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Evidence — relevance

In a trial alleging excessive force, it was not relevant to admit evidence of the conduct of others prior to the plaintiff’s arrival at the scene, and of their convictions.

“Evidence of Daniel’s, Jones’s, and Mynatt’s conduct immediately before Whitehead’s arrival was relevant. ‘[O]ne measure of relevance is whether its exclusion would leave a chronological and conceptual void in the story.’ Boros, 668 F.3d at 908 (quotations omitted). Even where evidence is not directly related to a disputed fact, it may be relevant when it provides background information. Id. The testimony explained why Whitehead’s neighbor said, ‘They’re killing your son,’ why Whitehead hurried to the scene and inquired about her son, why approximately eighteen police officers were there, and why a sizeable crowd had gathered. This background information allowed the jury to put Whitehead’s, the officers’, and the crowd’s conduct in context. That made it relevant.”

Affirmed.

11-2225 Whitehead v. Bond

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Castillo, J., Tinder, J.