Byron Christmas v. City of Chicago
682 F.3d 632 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2012
Facts
Byron Christmas and Tiffany Banks were arrested by Chicago police officers on August 27, 2007, and charged with felony drug possession. Officer Loaiza, responding to a tip about drug sales, observed Christmas in a gold vehicle in an alley conducting what appeared to be four drug transactions. Officers approached, found suspected heroin in Christmas's vehicle, and arrested him. Christmas allegedly made a statement about more drugs arriving, leading officers to set up a second surveillance. Banks then appeared, dropped a package, and was taken into custody. Both Christmas and Banks were later acquitted of all criminal charges at a bench trial. They alleged officers conducted strip searches and left Banks's infant daughter at the scene, which the officers denied.
Procedural history
Christmas, Banks, and Banks on behalf of her infant daughter filed a civil suit in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the City of Chicago and several police officers, asserting Fourth Amendment and state law claims. A civil jury trial commenced, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Defendants on all claims. Plaintiffs moved for a mistrial and a new trial, arguing they were denied a fair trial due to counsel's violations of evidentiary rulings and improper comments, but the district court denied both motions. Plaintiffs then appealed these denials to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Issue
Did the district court abuse its discretion by denying the Plaintiffs' motions for a mistrial and a new trial, based on alleged improper comments by Defendants' counsel and violations of evidentiary rulings by Defendants' witnesses?
Holding
The appellate court affirmed the district court's denial of both the Plaintiffs' motion for a mistrial and their motion for a new trial.
Rule
A district court's denial of a motion for a mistrial or a new trial is reviewed for abuse of discretion, with a highly deferential standard. A mistrial is warranted only if the plaintiff was deprived of a fair trial. A new trial is granted only if the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, damages are excessive, or the trial was not fair due to improper conduct. To preserve an issue for appeal, a party must make a timely objection or motion to strike. Curative instructions given by the judge are presumed to be followed by the jury and can mitigate harm from improper statements or testimony. Attorney misconduct requires both misconduct and prejudice, and improper comments during closing arguments rarely rise to reversible error, especially when objections are sustained and curative instructions are given.
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