Opinion ID: 739930
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Exclusion of Palmquist's Character Evidence

Text: 17 The central inquiry of this case is whether Sergeant Selvik used excessive force in stopping Palmquist the morning of April 23, 1990. The Supreme Court has held that [w]here, as here, an excessive force claim arises in the context of an arrest or investigatory stop of a free citizen, it is most properly characterized as one invoking the protections of the Fourth Amendment, Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 394, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 1871, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989), and thus is properly analyzed under the Fourth Amendment's objective reasonableness standard. Id. at 388, 109 S.Ct. at 1867-68. The 'reasonableness' of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene. Id. at 396, 109 S.Ct. at 1872. This inquiry is an objective one: the question is whether the officers' actions are 'objectively reasonable' in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them, without regard to their underlying intent or motivation. Id. at 397, 109 S.Ct. at 1872 (citations omitted). To aid the jury in undertaking this objective inquiry, the defendants argue they should have been able to introduce character evidence of Palmquist's motive and intent, especially as it pertains to Sergeant Selvik's self-defense claim. This evidence of Paul Palmquist's past, especially the events of the last days and hours of his life, provides background to this tragedy and illustrates why the parties fought so hard over its admission. 18
19 Shortly before 1 a.m. on the morning of Palmquist's death, a police officer from the nearby Chicago suburb of Itasca spotted him driving his motorcycle, weaving from side to side. The officer stopped Palmquist, smelled a strong odor of alcohol, and observed his glassy and bloodshot eyes. Palmquist denied that he had been drinking, but after he failed a field sobriety test the officer arrested him for driving under the influence. A protective pat-down search revealed a plastic bag with 10.5 grams of marijuana. Palmquist was charged with driving under the influence, drug possession, and various traffic offenses. He was released on bond at approximately 3:30 a.m. 20 Palmquist returned to his Bensenville apartment, and, as one of his neighbors described, began to howl at the moon. He screamed at himself and his next-door neighbor, imitated the Three Stooges, talked to himself, and ranted about microwaves. Two neighbors testified he did this because he wanted someone to call the police. 21 Jeff Parsons, a friend of Palmquist's, said that the day before he died, Palmquist told him he would provoke the police to kill him. When Parsons heard a radio broadcast of a shooting death, he told his wife it must have been Palmquist, even though the radio report did not give the deceased's name. Parsons contacted the Bensenville police department to alert the officer who shot Palmquist that he had a death wish. Another friend of Palmquist's, Ned Sigler, said that in the month before his death Palmquist's drinking had worsened and that he was upset about his job as a mechanic. Sigler said that after Palmquist lost two jobs as a mechanic, he seemed depressed, and wanted to die. Sigler described Palmquist's drinking problem as very serious. After Palmquist's death, Sigler called the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office to advise that he knew why Palmquist died. A third friend of Palmquist's, Fred Bernacchi, who played in a garage band with Palmquist, stated that Palmquist started a mental unraveling about 6 months before he died, that Palmquist drank and smoked marijuana all the time, and that he was depressed he had no girlfriend. Bernacchi said that Palmquist was proud that despite his drinking he had never been caught for driving intoxicated, and that receiving the DUI ticket may have been the last straw. 22 Michael Nahra lived below Palmquist in a first-floor apartment. He stated that he had known Palmquist for about a year, and that roughly a month before Palmquist died he told Nahra that he wanted to be shot by the police. Nahra said Palmquist told him he could not deal with the world, he wanted to be a hermit in the desert, and he did not like his living or working conditions. Nahra said that the evening before and morning of the shooting he heard Palmquist yelling in his apartment, shouting obscenities, walking the perimeter of the property, and throwing junk. He also heard windows breaking at the residence next door. Nahra's roommate, Charles Wolfe, who knew Palmquist for approximately 4 years, described Palmquist as a heavy drinker who appeared more depressed before his death. He said Palmquist became depressed recently about his dog's death, even more so than when he had given the dog away a year earlier, and that Palmquist said that Mr. Sanchez had killed the dog. Wolfe also was awakened by Palmquist's yelling and banging and the sound of breaking glass. Other neighbors would testify to substantially the same conduct by Palmquist in the early morning of April 23, 1990. 23