Opinion ID: 811159
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Gang-related Testimony

Text: Officers Caballero and Peterson were members of a gang unit, but it was agreed among all parties that their decision to stop and question the Sanchez brothers on April 5, 2008, was not based on any suspicion that either of the brothers was engaged in gang-related activity. See R. 167-1 at 5; R. 169 at 14, 62, 65-66. During pretrial discovery, it emerged that Sanchez did have some history of gang affiliation. R. 137. In advance of the trial, Sanchez moved to exclude any reference to gang activity, and the district court granted that motion to the extent of excluding any reference to Sanchez’s gang activity. R. 179 at 18. Sanchez contends that the defendants nonetheless went on to mention gangs frequently during the trial, with one witness (Officer Reynaldo Serrato) testifying that José Sanchez’s home was known for having noise disturbances and gang- related parties. R. 169 at 5-6. The district court sustained Sanchez’s objection to this particular testimony, but in Sanchez’s view the bell could not be unrung; and he 28 No. 10-3801 contends that when defense counsel remarked in closing argument that Sanchez had more arrests “than you can shake a stick at,” the jury must have surmised that Sanchez “was a gang banger who should not be awarded any damages.” Sanchez Br. 27. This argument makes too much of very little testi- mony connecting Sanchez with gang activity. The word “gang” was uttered on a number of occasions during the trial, but in the great majority of instances in the context of identifying the individual defendants’ assignment within the Chicago police force. This was not prohibited by the district court’s in limine ruling, and plaintiff’s counsel was equally responsible with defense counsel in eliciting this information. See, e.g., R. 166-1 at 3, 70, 78; R. 167-1 at 3, 4-5. As evidence of an officer’s experience, assignment, and qualifications, the mere mention that the officer is a gang specialist or assigned to a gang unit typically is appropriate and harmless. See, e.g., Anderson v. Sternes, 243 F.3d 1049, 1053-54 (7th Cir. 2001). Indeed, these references were not objected to by Sanchez. The only potentially problematic reference was Officer Serrato’s reference to gang-related parties occurring at or near José’s home; but the district court sustained the objection to that remark and instructed the jury to disregard it. We presume that the jury follows such instructions. Wilson v. Groaning, 25 F.3d 581, 587 (7th Cir. 1994) (coll. cases). As Sanchez himself concedes, “[a]t trial, there was no suggestion from anyone that Mr. Sanchez was engaged in gang activity at the time of the incident, or that the officers’ No. 10-3801 29 treatment of him was based on gang affiliation.” Sanchez Br. 27. In this context, Serrato’s isolated remark, which the court instructed the jury to disregard, was not sufficiently serious to have prejudiced Sanchez.