Opinion ID: 1322793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Picture of Hill Making Hand Gestures

Text: Clark asserts that the district court judge erred when she refused to allow him to admit a picture of Hill making a hand gesture, which he stated was a gang sign for the Gangster Disciples. Clark attempted to use the picture during cross-examination of Hill to impeach her, since she had testified that she was not a member of the Gangster Disciples and that she never flashed gang signs, and to establish that Hill and Green had a preexisting drug relationship. The government contested admission of the picture, saying Hill's gesture was actually one of disrespect to the Gangster Disciples and would only confuse the jury. The government also asserted that the picture did nothing to prove a preexisting drug relationship, plus Hill and Green had already testified to having met prior to Clark's release from prison in 2005. The district court judge stated that the picture could not come in through Hill, but that Clark could revisit it if he testified, since defense counsel insisted that Clark could lay the proper foundation and would testify that the gesture Hill made in the picture was in fact a Gangster Disciple signal. Based on this, the district court judge deferred admission of the photograph until Clark laid the proper foundation for the picture's admission; Clark elected not to testify, thus the district court never made a final ruling on the issue. When a district court indicates that a final evidentiary ruling must await developments at trial, the party must re-offer the evidence at trial to preserve the issue for appeal. Mathis v. Phillips Chevrolet, Inc., 269 F.3d 771, 775 (7th Cir.2001). Where the party fails to revisit and offer the evidence at trial and the evidentiary issue is left unresolved, we review only for plain error, and we will not disturb the district court's ruling unless the error is clear or obvious and affects [the defendant's] substantial rights. United States v. Alden, 527 F.3d 653, 662 (7th Cir.2008) (quoting United States v. Schalk, 515 F.3d 768, 776 (7th Cir.2008)). There was no plain error here.