West v. Love, s. 83-3198

Citation776 F.2d 170
Decision Date30 October 1985
Docket NumberNos. 83-3198,84-1771,s. 83-3198
Parties19 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 815 Richard WEST, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Thomas LOVE and James O'Dell, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Julia A. Martin, Jenner & Block, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.

Rita M. Novak, Asst. Atty. Gen., Chicago, Ill., for defendants-appellees.

Before WOOD and FLAUM, Circuit Judges, and WYATT, Senior District Judge. *

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Richard West, an inmate at Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois, charged in this 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 action that two correctional officers, defendants Thomas Love and James O'Dell, violated his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments by bodily attacking and injuring him. A jury returned a verdict in favor of defendants. West appeals from that judgment, claiming that he was prejudiced before the jury by the admission of evidence of the special confinement unit in which he was confined at the time of the incident and evidence of his disciplinary history, and by the exclusion of evidence of his acquittal in a case in which he had been charged with stabbing Love. West also appeals from the denial of his post-trial motions seeking relief from the judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b), and alternatively, for discovery to establish a more complete record to support the 60(b) motion. These motions concern the post-trial disclosure that during trial, but outside the courtroom, Love threatened to kill Richard DeRobertis, the warden at the institution, who was present as a defense witness. We affirm the district court on all issues.

Background

It is not disputed that on June 23, 1980 there was a scuffle between West and Love, but there is a dispute as to who provoked it, who did what to whom, and what injuries may have resulted. It was West's word against Love's as to how the scuffle started because for a few moments no one else was present. There is some variance between the versions of the few other witnesses of the events which followed, but the jury preferred the version of the correctional officers.

At the time and place the scuffle began, West had stopped to use a drinking fountain. West, in handcuffs, was being escorted by Love and O'Dell from the prison yard to his cell within the unit. West testified that Love accused him (West) of stabbing him. As West bent to take a drink from the fountain, Love struck him in the head. Taking advantage of West's handicap (the handcuffs), Love began to swing West around by the cuffs and beat him in the face and chest. O'Dell, who had been ahead and had just turned a corner returned quickly to the scene and held West's arms while Love continued to beat him.

Love's version is different. Although handcuffs obviously may be a handicap, they also may be used as a weapon. He testified that West used them as a weapon and also kicked and bit him. According to Love, O'Dell, who was walking ahead of him and West, returned when he heard the commotion and assisted him in getting West under control. Love and O'Dell maintain that they used only the force necessary to restrain West. Lieutenant Pringle, a supervisor, arrived shortly thereafter and directed that West be returned to his cell. Pringle observed no injuries to West. O'Dell testified that while escorting West back to his cell following the fracas, West hit him in the head with his cuffed hands, causing a concussion.

The injuries, except for O'Dell's concussion, were not severe. Love says West bit his finger, and West says he had head, rib and other bruises, and that the handcuffs cut his wrists. West claims he asked for medical treatment which he did not receive, but nothing in the record suggests any injury to West requiring medical attention. West himself makes little of his alleged injuries, emphasizing instead the principle that any constitutional violation is compensable. He claims he should be compensated in the amount of $10,000 for the deep humiliation he suffered in this scuffle. Under the circumstances that appears to be an impressive amount of humiliation.

Stateville is a maximum security prison, and inside that prison West was assigned to a special segregation unit which is where the scuffle occurred. Controversial evidence, the focus of this appeal, was admitted about the unit and its purpose. The gist of the testimony was that the segregation unit was reserved for inmates with a propensity for violent behavior. Additionally, the warden was permitted to testify that West had been placed in the unit because he "had exhibited a history in a series of violent aggressive, acting-out behavior inside the institution, which have generally covered assaults on inmates and staff and other aggressive acts."

Each side tried to use to advantage a prior but fairly recent incident in which Love had accused West of stabbing him. West claimed Love attacked him in the present scuffle because Love thought West had stabbed him. Love claimed West attacked him in the scuffle because Love had reported the stabbing incident. The court admitted some evidence of this incident as relevant to the possible motivations for the acts of the parties, but declined to admit as irrelevant the fact that West had been acquitted of the stabbing charge.

Issues

West challenges the admission of evidence that the special segregation unit housed inmates who had demonstrated a propensity for violent behavior. He claims this evidence was admitted in violation of the prohibition of the use of character evidence set forth in Rule 404 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. However, West himself on direct examination explained that he was confined in the orientation building which had two sections, the confinement section where he was and the death row section. The confinement unit was the setting for the scuffle and explains the use of handcuffs within the institution and a two-guard escort. When a unit prisoner's exercise time is up in the yard where he exercises alone, and West was a powerful weight lifter, the inmate goes to an opening in the door to the unit where he puts his wrists through to be handcuffed before being admitted inside where guards and prisoner are then together. Evidence of being in the confinement unit did not help West's case, but this scuffle cannot be relocated to some more suitable prison setting.

Under Rule 404(a), applicable in civil as well as criminal cases, evidence of an individual's character is not admissible "for the purpose of proving that he acted in conformity therewith on a particular occasion." Rule 404(b), however, provides that evidence of wrongful acts can be introduced as "proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident." If the evidence offered is relevant to an issue other than character, the court must determine whether its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. As we recently explained, evidence is not prejudicial merely because it damages the opposing party's case. United States v. Medina, 755 F.2d 1269, 1274 (7th Cir.1985). Rather, the danger of unfair prejudice is defined as the "likelihood that the evidence will induce the jury to decide the case on an improper basis, commonly an emotional one, rather than on the evidence presented on the crime charged...." Id. Additionally, the danger of unfair prejudice must substantially outweigh the probative value of the evidence before its exclusion is warranted. Id. The trial court's balancing of probative value and unfair prejudice is highly discretionary and its decision on admissibility will be accorded "great deference." Id.

The evidence that the scuffle took place in the confinement unit reserved for inmates with a propensity for violent behavior was not inadmissible "character evidence." It was relevant to the issue whether the force used against West was excessive or reasonable under the circumstances. The jury was instructed to consider "whether force was applied in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline, or maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm." Defendants' assessment of the danger posed by the situation in that unit bears on the issue whether they acted reasonably and in good faith. Correctional officers are not required to take excessive personal risks with inmates classified as violent. That defendants were dealing with an inmate housed in the special confinement unit rather than with a trusty housed on a prison farm is clearly relevant to their assessment of the danger posed and the amount of reasonable force to be applied. This evidence bearing on defendants' states of mind was admissible under Rule 404(b). Crawford v. Edmonson, 764 F.2d 479, 484 (7th Cir.1985); Carson v. Polley, 689 F.2d 562, 573 (5th Cir.1982). The reality of this case is that plaintiff is a felon housed in a state prison, which itself suggests that his character is not entirely above reproach. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting this evidence.

West also contends that the district court erred not only in admitting...

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