Castellanos v. Maya

          COURT’S INTENDED FINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS

          Jeffrey S. White United States District Judge

         The Court HEREBY ADVISES the parties that the following instructions comprise the Court’s proposed final instructions. These instructions are over-inclusive and may include instructions that will not be necessary, because of the fact that certain types of evidence were not introduced at trial.

         The parties may raise any objections, including the order in which they are given, or requests for additional instructions by no later than July 25, 2016. The Court will address those objections at requests at the charging conference to be held on July 28, 2016. If the trial progresses more quickly than anticipated, the Court will advise the parties of any modification to this schedule in open court.

         Table of Contents

         Duties of Jury to Find Facts and Follow Law ................................................................................... 4

         What is Evidence ............................................................................................................................... 5

         What is Not Evidence ........................................................................................................................ 6

         Direct and Circumstantial Evidence .................................................................................................. 7

         Evidence for Limited Purpose ........................................................................................................... 8

         Credibility of Witnesses .................................................................................................................... 9

         Stipulations of Fact .......................................................................................................................... 11

         Deposition in Lieu of Live Testimony ............................................................................................ 12

         Transcript of Recording in English ................................................................................................. 13

         Impeachment Evidence - Witness .................................................................................................. 14

         Tests and Experiments .................................................................................................................... 15

         Use of Interrogatories ...................................................................................................................... 16

         Use of Requests for Admission ....................................................................................................... 17

         Expert Opinion ................................................................................................................................ 18

         Charts and Summaries Not Received in Evidence .......................................................................... 19

         Charts and Summaries Received in Evidence ................................................................................. 20

         Section 1983 Claim - Introductory Instruction ............................................................................... 21

         Section 1983 Claim Against Defendant in Individual Capacity ..................................................... 22

         Elements and Burden of Proof ........................................................................................................ 22

         Burden of Proof - Preponderance of the Evidence ......................................................................... 23

         Particular Rights - First Amendment - Citizen Plaintiff ................................................................ 24

         Particular Rights - Fourth Amendment - ....................................................................................... 25

         Unreasonable Seizure of Person - Excessive Force ........................................................................ 25

         Particular Rights - Fourteenth Amendment - Due Process - ......................................................... 27

         Deliberate Fabrication of Evidence ................................................................................................. 27

         Damages - Proof ............................................................................................................................. 28

         Proximate Cause .............................................................................................................................. 29

         Nominal Damages ........................................................................................................................... 30

         Duty to Deliberate ........................................................................................................................... 32

         Consideration of Evidence - Conduct of the Jury ........................................................................... 33

         Use of Notes .................................................................................................................................... 34

         Evidence in Electronic Format ........................................................................................................ 35

         Communication with Court ............................................................................................................. 36

         Return of Verdict ............................................................................................................................. 37

         Duties of Jury to Find Facts and Follow Law

         Members of the Jury: Now that you have heard all of the evidence, it is my duty to instruct you as to the law of the case. A copy of these instructions will be sent with you to the jury room when you deliberate.

         You must not infer from these instructions or from anything I may say or do as indicating that I have an opinion regarding the evidence or what your verdict should be.

         It is your duty to find the facts from all the evidence in the case. To those facts you will apply the law as I give it to you. You must follow the law as I give it to you whether you agree with it or not. And you must not be influenced by any personal likes or dislikes, opinions, prejudices, or sympathy. That means that you must decide the case solely on the evidence before you. You will recall that you took an oath to do so.

         In following my instructions, you must follow all of them and not single out some and ignore others; they are all important.

         What is Evidence

         The evidence you are to consider in deciding what the facts are consists of:

1. the sworn testimony of any witness;

2. the exhibits which are received into evidence; and

3. any facts to which the lawyers have agreed.

         What is Not Evidence

         In reaching your verdict, you may consider only the testimony and exhibits received into evidence. Certain things are not evidence, and you may not consider them in deciding what the facts are. I will list them for you:

         1. Arguments and statements by lawyers are not evidence. The lawyers are not witnesses. What they have said in their opening statements, will say in their closing arguments, and at other times is intended to help you interpret the evidence, but it is not evidence. If the facts as you remember them differ from the way the lawyers have stated them, your memory of them controls.

         2. Questions and objections by lawyers are not evidence. Attorneys have a duty to their clients to object when they believe a question is improper under the rules of evidence. You should not be ...