Jackson v. Target Corporation

Background

The court issued this final pretrial order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(e) after a February 15, 2024 pretrial conference. Bryon U. Jackson is the plaintiff, and Target Corporation is the defendant. The order states that Jackson has one negligence claim. It scheduled a jury trial to begin February 26, 2024, in San Francisco, with up to two days allotted for trial.

The parties had stipulated to procedures governing the use of deposition testimony and demonstrative exhibits, and to certain facts. The factual stipulation was to be marked as an exhibit and read into evidence at trial.

Motions in Limine

A motion in limine is a request to decide before trial whether particular evidence or arguments may be presented to the jury.

- Jackson’s Motions in Limine Nos. 1 and 3: Jackson sought to exclude witnesses Target allegedly failed to timely disclose and evidence Target allegedly withheld during discovery. The court declined to exclude the evidence on those grounds. The court noted that the parties had stipulated to postpone initial disclosures, that Target had identified its two witnesses and video in discovery responses, and that Jackson had seen the video at a settlement conference and later received it after counsel was appointed. The court allowed a short video deposition of one witness before trial to address any remaining issue. - Jackson’s Motion in Limine No. 2: The court granted the unopposed motion to exclude evidence concerning prior litigation involving Jackson. - Jackson’s Motion in Limine No. 4: The court granted the unopposed motion to exclude video footage showing Jackson after he was struck with a shopping cart. - Target’s Motion in Limine No. 2: Target sought to exclude evidence about Jackson’s medical treatment, medical expenses, and special damages because Jackson had not produced medical records. The court allowed Jackson to testify about his alleged injuries and pain. The court also allowed him to testify about his knowledge of lost income and future earnings, while allowing Target to cross-examine him about the lack of documentation. - Target’s Motion in Limine No. 3: The court granted the motion to exclude undisclosed or unproduced witnesses and evidence. Jackson himself could still testify about his knowledge of the incident and his alleged injuries. - Target’s Motion in Limine No. 4: The court denied the motion to exclude “Golden Rule” and “Reptile Theory” arguments without prejudice to specific objections at trial. The court described the motion as generalized and preemptive. - Target’s Motion in Limine No. 5: The court allowed Jackson to testify about his knowledge of lost income and future earnings, while leaving Target free to question him about the lack of supporting documentation. - Target’s Motion in Limine No. 6: The court granted the motion to exclude expert opinions because Jackson would not offer expert opinions.

Exhibit Objections

The court overruled Jackson’s objections to Target’s security video because the court had already denied the motion seeking to exclude that video. The court understood that the parties had resolved the issue so that only the video from the summary-judgment hearing would be admitted.

Trial Procedures

The order addressed preliminary and final jury instructions, a proposed verdict form, and jury questionnaires. It allowed attorney questioning of prospective jurors for up to thirty minutes per side. It also required the parties to provide the order in which witnesses and exhibits would be presented and to notify the court of trial issues in advance. The order stated that joint witnesses would be called only once, during Jackson’s case. It further stated that the entire case might be presented on the first trial day.

Disposition

This was a procedural pretrial order, not a decision on whether Jackson or Target was correct on the negligence claim. The court set trial procedures, declined or granted the specified evidence requests as described above, overruled the exhibit objections, and ordered that the case proceed toward the scheduled jury trial.