Opinion ID: 556408
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admissibility of the Appellate Division Decision

Text: 47 Defendants also argue that the district court erred in admitting selected portions of the second Appellate Division decision, which set aside the criminal verdict against plaintiffs in state court and dismissed their indictment. People v. Gentile, 127 A.D.2d at 686-89. Defendants insist that it was prejudicial for Judge Weinstein to admit the substance of this decision into evidence after the judge had initially ruled that it could not be admitted because the prejudice to defendants would outweigh its probative force. 48 However, relevant portions of the Appellate Division decision were admitted only as part of the investigation report of Lt. Loughlin of the County Police Department, who was asked by Police Commissioner Treader after the Appellate Division's ruling to investigate defendant police officers for perjury and other offenses committed in connection with the prosecution of plaintiffs. Plaintiffs introduced this report into evidence to show that Lt. Loughlin's investigation into plaintiffs' allegations, which ultimately and unjustifiably vindicated the conduct of defendant police officers, was cursory and inadequate. In his investigation report, Lt. Loughlin cited a substantial excerpt from the Appellate Division decision, which he then argued did not support the inference that defendants actually perjured themselves at the trial of plaintiffs. Our review of Lt. Loughlin's report indicates that the included portions of the Appellate Division's decision, contained in the unredacted version of the report submitted by plaintiffs and admitted at trial, are crucial for understanding the overall significance of the investigation report, and that the redacted version offered by defendants would have undermined the document's evidentiary force. For this reason, we reject defendants' argument that the district court abused its discretion in admitting the unredacted version of the investigation report containing portions of the Appellate Division decision.