Berry v. Parodi

Background

The court held a final pretrial conference on April 12, 2023. The order identifies the issues remaining for trial: whether Detective Lindsay Alvarez used excessive force, unlawfully detained Berry, unlawfully arrested Berry, maliciously prosecuted her, or violated her First Amendment rights, and the amount of damages, if any. The parties also disputed whether Alvarez could assert qualified immunity, a legal defense that can protect government officials from liability in some circumstances. The court deferred that issue until it becomes necessary to decide it.

Trial Structure

The court ordered the trial bifurcated, meaning divided into separate phases, as to liability and punitive damages. In the first phase, the jury will decide liability and whether Berry is entitled to punitive damages. If it finds both in Berry’s favor, the same jury will immediately decide the amount of punitive damages in a second phase.

The order sets an eight-person jury, three peremptory challenges for each side, and trial dates of May 17–19 and May 22–23, 2023, unless changed by the court. It also sets limits on questioning, opening statements, evidence presentation, and closing arguments, and provides procedures for jury questionnaires, witness exclusion, exhibits, jury instructions, and courtroom equipment.

Witness Rulings

Berry proposed seven additional witnesses to testify about her birthday celebration. The court found that testimony needlessly duplicative and allowed Berry to call no more than one of those seven witnesses on that subject, in addition to Berry and Ms. Jackson, who were already identified as witnesses.

The court barred Doris Walker, Ashley Walker, and Kevin Brown from testifying about Berry’s injuries. It found that Berry disclosed them late as witnesses on that subject and did not show that the late disclosure was substantially justified or harmless under the federal discovery rules.

Exhibit Rulings

The court excluded Berry’s Exhibit 2, a cell-phone video of the November 3, 2019 encounter, because she produced it nearly a month after the fact-discovery deadline and did not show that the late disclosure was justified or harmless. The court also excluded proposed Exhibits 13–17, medical records that were produced nearly a month late and were not properly identified in the initial disclosures. The court noted that Berry had not sought an order compelling production or attempted to subpoena the records.

For Exhibit 12, identified as “POST Learning Domains,” the parties were directed to confer about which excerpts could be used and to notify the court if they could not agree. For Exhibit 21, a motion filed in the criminal prosecution against Berry, the court invited supplemental briefing on whether Berry could present evidence about the events preceding dismissal of that prosecution and argue that those events showed the prosecution lacked merit or was maliciously motivated. The supplemental briefs were due April 24, 2023. The order states that Berry did not object to Alvarez’s proposed trial exhibits.

Ruling

Judge Demarchi entered the pretrial directives described above, including the witness and exhibit limitations, the two-phase structure for liability and punitive damages, and the scheduled trial procedures. This order did not decide whether Berry’s claims were proven or whether Alvarez was liable.