Opinion ID: 3171032
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence of Nelson’s Prior Arrests

Text: Between 1983 and 1999, Nelson was arrested nine times—once for an alleged felony and eight times for alleged misdemeanors. These arrests are ancient history (the stop at issue here occurred in 2008), and all the charges were dismissed. A bit more recently, in November 2005, Nelson was arrested and charged with the unauthorized use of a weapon. See Complaint, Nelson v. Balesteri, No. 06CV6316 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 20, 2006), ECF No. 1. Unlike the other charges, this case went to trial and Nelson was acquitted. He thereafter sued the arresting officers. The City settled this case for $34,000, though without admitting any wrongdoing. See Release and Settlement Agreement, Nelson v. Balesteri, No. 06CV6316 (N.D. Ill. May 29, 2007), ECF No. 23. Nelson moved in limine to bar evidence of his previous arrests at trial. The judge ruled that the prior-arrest evidence could come in only for impeachment purposes on the issue of Nelson’s “fear of the police.” The judge later clarified the scope of her ruling: If Mr. Nelson were to testify, for example, “I had never had any encounter with police be- fore. I was terrified. I had never seen a uniform or a badge before. … ,” then obviously he could be impeached, if it’s possible to impeach him, with evidence that, in fact, he has been ar- rested before. On direct examination Nelson testified at length about his public-service background, including the fact that he had occasionally worked with the police on community-outreach 8 No. 12-3401 projects. This line of questioning tried the judge’s patience and drew repeated objections on relevance grounds from the defense. Nelson’s counsel responded that the testimony was offered to rebut the defense attorney’s insinuations that Nelson was greedy, financially desperate, or had a grudge against the police. Nelson also testified about his emotional distress during the traffic stop. Asked how he felt when Officer Ruzak pointed his gun at him, Nelson said, “I was terrified, humiliated, ready to piss on myself, everything. I mean, I was just—I mean, I feared for my life.” He continued on in this same vein, saying that he felt “[e]mbarrassed, terrified. I feared for my life. Don’t know what this man was gonna do. I didn’t know if he gonna shoot me or whatever. He still had his gun out.” In response to a question about how he felt even now about his treatment during the traffic stop, he said, “I feel embarrassed, terrified. Right now, I’m still mad just looking at them right now as I speak.” When asked why he was still angry despite the passage of time, Nelson answered, “Because that man had—I looked death in the face that night in that man[’s] hand.” At the conclusion of Nelson’s direct examination, the defense attorney requested a sidebar and argued that Nelson had opened the door for admission of evidence about his prior experience with the police—namely, his history of arrests. The judge agreed: “If there were other episodes, counsel [is] entitled to explore the possibility that there are other reasons he might be terrified by police that have nothing to do with the alleged incident.” The defense attorney then cross-examined Nelson about his prior arrests, asking: “And, sir, isn’t it true that you’ve No. 12-3401 9 actually been arrested in numerous cases?” Nelson answered, “I’ve been arrested before and never been found guilty of no crime.” On redirect Nelson’s attorney made an effort to rehabilitate, eliciting testimony that his arrests were “a long time ago,” none resulted in a conviction, and none involved an officer aiming a gun at his face. No limiting instruction was given to the jury, but the judge did prohibit counsel from making any reference to the arrests in closing argument. The judge later elaborated on her rationale for allowing this cross-examination. In her ruling on Nelson’s posttrial