Civil Rights — wrongful conviction — damages

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Rights — wrongful conviction — damages

Where the district court excluded the plaintiff’s evidence of innocence in a wrongful conviction case under Section 1983, the damage award must be vacated.

“As Cooper is the only person who stands convicted of the offense, his testimony that Parish did not commit any crimes with him is of obvious relevance. The court, however, refused to allow Parish to introduce Cooper’s statement that he did not know Parish and that Parish had never committed any crime with him. In fact, it is difficult to see how that testimony would be unfairly prejudicial at all. The reluctance to allow such evidence appears to reflect the court’s concern with the reliability of the evidence that Cooper was involved in the crime. Such doubts may well exist in light of the potential connection to the Ervins, although the Ervins have never been charged. But if the court doubted Cooper’s guilt because of the potential involvement of the Ervins, then there is no justification for also preventing Parish from introducing the statement by Johlanis that he had never met Parish. Like Cooper, Johlanis Ervin would have testified that he did not know Parish and never committed any crimes with him. Therefore, both the person convicted of the offense and the person implicated by the DNA evidence would have testified that they did not know Parish and that he did not commit any crime with them, and neither was allowed. That evidence was relevant to Parish’s innocence, and there is no basis for holding it unfairly prejudicial.”

Vacated and Remanded.

11-1669 Parish v. City of Elkhart

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Lozano, J., Rovner, J.