6 

7 

8 

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

9 Montiah Chatman, 

10 Plaintiff, 

11 V. 

12 Marci D Ferrell, et al., 

13 Defendants. 

14 15 

16 17 18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 25 

26 27 28 

No. CV-17-03826-PHX-DLR 

FINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS 
6 It is your duty to find the facts from all the evidence in the case. To those facts you 

7 will apply the law as I give it to you. You must follow the law as I give it to you whether 

8 you agree with it or not. And you must not be influenced by any personal likes or dislikes, 

9 opinions, prejudices, or sympathy. That means that you must decide the case solely on the 

10 evidence before you. You will recall that you took an oath to do so. 

11 Please do not read into these instructions or anything that I may say or do or have 

12 said or done that I have an opinion regarding the evidence or what your verdict should be. 

13 

14 

15 

16 17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

- 2 -
6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 17 

18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 28 

4. any facts that I have instructed you to accept as proved. 

- 3 -
6 witnesses. What they have said in their opening statements, closing 

7 arguments and at other times is intended to help you interpret the evidence, 

8 but it is not evidence. If the facts as you remember them differ from the way 

9 the lawyers have stated them, your memory of them controls. 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 17 

18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 24 25 

26 

27 

28 

2. 

3. 

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 influenced by the objection or by the 

court's ruling on it. 

Anything you may have seen or heard when the court was not in session is 

not evidence. You are to decide the case solely on the evidence received at 

the trial. 

- 4 -
6 the weight to be given to either direct or circumstantial evidence. It is for you to decide 

7 how much weight to give to any evidence. 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 17 18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 24 25 

26 

27 28 

- 5 -
6 The deposition of Stacie Reynolds was taken on July 9, 2019. The deposition of 

7 Corey Pearson was taken on July 10, 2019. Insofar as possible, you should consider 

8 deposition testimony, presented to you in court in lieu of live testimony, in the same way 

9 as if the witness had been present to testify. 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

- 6 -
6 it or reject it, and give it as much weight as you think it deserves, considering the witness's 

7 education and experience, the reasons given for the opinion, and all the other evidence in 

8 the case. 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 15 16 17 18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

- 7 -
6 Do not communicate with anyone m any way and do not let anyone else 

7 communicate with you in any way about the merits of the case or anything to do with it. 

8 This includes discussing the case in person, in writing, by phone, tablet, computer, or any 

9 other means, via email, via text messaging, or any Internet chat room, blog, website or 

10 application, including but not limited to Facebook, Y ouTube, Twitter, Instagram, 

11 Linkedin, Snapchat, TikTok, or any other forms of social media. This applies to 

12 communicating with your family members, your employer, the media or press, and the 

13 people involved in the trial. If you are asked or approached in any way about your jury 

14 service or anything about this case, you must respond that you have been ordered not to 

15 discuss the matter and to report the contact to the court. 

16 Do not read, watch, or listen to any news or media accounts or commentary about 17 the case or anything to do with it[, although I have no information that there will be news 18 reports about this case]; do not do any research, such as consulting dictionaries, searching 19 the Internet, or using other reference materials; and do not make any investigation or in 

20 any other way try to learn about the case on your own. Do not visit or view any place 

21 discussed in this case, and do not use Internet programs or other devices to search for or 

22 view any place discussed during the trial. Also, do not do any research about this case, the 

23 law, or the people involved-including the parties, the witnesses or the lawyers-until you 

24 have been excused as jurors. If you happen to read or hear anything touching on this case 

25 in the media, tum away and report it to me as soon as possible. 

26 These rules protect each party's right to have this case decided only on evidence 27 that has been presented here in court. Witnesses here in court take an oath to tell the truth, 28 and the accuracy of their testimony is tested through the trial process. If you do any 

- 8 -
6 taken an oath to follow the rules, and it is very important that you follow these rules. 

7 A juror who violates these restrictions jeopardizes the fairness of these proceedings, 

8 and a mistrial could result that would require the entire trial process to start over. If any 

9 juror is exposed to any outside information, please notify the court immediately. 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 15 16 17 

18 

19 

20 

21 22 23 24 25 

26 

27 28 

- 9 -
6 presented it. 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 15 16 17 18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 24 25 

26 

27 

28 

- 10 -
6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 12 

13 14 15 16 

17 18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 24 25 

26 

27 28 

official removes children from their parents without their consent, and without a court 

order, unless information at the time of the seizure, after reasonable investigation, 

establishes reasonable cause to believe that the child is in imminent danger of serious 

bodily injury. 

I have instructed you that the Defendants in this case acted together to violate the 

plaintiffs' familial association rights by removing JLC and EVTP from Montiah Chatman' s 

custody, without consent, without a court order and without any reason to believe the 

children were in imminent danger of serious bodily harm. Because defendants violated 

the constitutional rights of Montiah Chatman, JLC and EVTP, you must award 

compensatory damages in an appropriate amount to compensate plaintiffs. 

- 11 -
6 and fairly compensate the plaintiffs for any injury caused by the defendants. You should 

7 consider the following: 

8 1. The nature and extent of the injuries; 

9 2. The mental, physical, emotional pain and suffering experienced and that with 

10 reasonable probability will be experienced in the future; 

11 It is for you to determine what damages have been proved. Your award must be 

12 based upon evidence and not upon speculation, guesswork or conjecture. 

13 

14 

15 

16 17 

18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 24 25 

26 

27 

28 

- 12 -
6 2. the amount by which damages would have been mitigated. 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

- 13 -
6 the evidence that punitive damages should be awarded and, if so, the amount of any such 

7 damages. 

8 You may award punitive damages only if you find that a defendant's conduct that 

9 harmed the plaintiff was malicious, oppressive or in reckless disregard of the plaintiffs 

10 rights. Conduct is malicious if it is accompanied by ill will, or spite, or if it is for the 

11 purpose of injuring the plaintiff. Conduct is in reckless disregard of the plaintiffs rights 

12 if, under the circumstances, it reflects complete indifference to the plaintiffs safety or 

13 rights, or if the defendant acts in the face of a perceived risk that its actions will violate the 

14 plaintiffs rights under federal law. An act or omission is oppressive if the defendant 

15 injures or damages or otherwise violates the rights of the plaintiff with unnecessary 

16 harshness or severity, such as by misusing or abusing authority or power or by. taking 

17 advantage of some weakness or disability or misfortune of the plaintiff. 18 If you find that punitive damages are appropriate, you must use reason in setting the 19 amount. Punitive damages, if any, should be in an amount sufficient to fulfill their purposes 

20 but should not reflect bias, prejudice or sympathy toward any party. In considering the 

21 amount of any punitive damages, consider the degree of reprehensibility of the defendant's 

22 conduct. In addition, you may consider the relationship of any award of punitive damages 

23 to any actual harm inflicted on the plaintiff. 

24 You may impose punitive damages against one or more of the defendants and not 

25 others, and may award different amounts against different defendants. 

26 

27 

28 

- 14 -
6 Defendant's act resulted in the direct restraint of plaintiffs liberty or freedom of 

7 movement, either by actual force or from plaintiffs fear of force; 

8 Defendant's act would have caused a reasonably prudent person in the same 

9 situation as the name of plaintiff to believe that he was restrained; and 

10 Plaintiffs were aware of or was harmed by the restraint. 

11 I have instructed you that the defendants are all liable for falsely imprisoning JLC 

12 and EVTP after removing them from Montiah Chatman. You are to determine the 

13 appropriate amount of compensatory damages to award EVTP and JLC for the loss of time, 

14 for physical discomfort or inconvenience, and for any mental suffering, humiliation, and 

15 the like. 

16 17 

18 

19 

20 

21 22 23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

- 15 -
6 writing or here in open court. If you send out a question, I will consult with the lawyers 

7 before answering it, which may take some time. You may continue your deliberations 

8 while waiting for the answer to any question. Remember that you are not to tell anyone9 including the court-how the jury stands, whether in terms of vote count or otherwise, until 

10 after you have reached a unanimous verdict or have been discharged. 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 17 18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 25 

26 

27 

28 

- 16 -
6 do so. Your verdict must be unanimous. 

7 Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but you should do so only after you 

8 have considered all of the evidence, discussed it fully with the other jurors, and listened to 

9 their views. 

10 It is important that you attempt to reach a unanimous verdict but, of course, only if 

11 each of you can do so after having made your own conscientious decision. Do not be 

12 unwilling to change your opinion if the discussion persuades you that you should. But do· 

13 not come to a decision simply because other jurors think it is right, or change an honest 

14 belief about the weight and effect of the evidence simply to reach a verdict. 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 28 

- 17 -
6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 15 

16 17 18 19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 28 

- 18 -