Berthiaume v. Smith

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The Eleventh Circuit granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion for panel rehearing, granted defendants' motion for publication of the opinion, vacated its prior opinion, and substituted the following opinion.Plaintiff filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and 1988 and Florida law, alleging claims of excessive force, false arrest, false imprisonment, battery/unnecessary force, and malicious prosecution, arising from Lieutenant Smith's arrest of plaintiff. A jury returned a verdict for defendants and the district court denied plaintiff's motion for new trial. The court held that the district court abused its discretion in not asking the jury plaintiff's proposed voir dire question, which was: "Do you harbor any biases or prejudices against persons who are gay or homosexual?" Given the pretrial documentation concerning plaintiff's homosexual relationships, and the characterization of the altercation that led to his arrest as a domestic dispute, the risk that latent, undiscovered prejudices may have influenced the jury's verdict was substantial. Furthermore, the error was not harmless. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded. View "Berthiaume v. Smith" on Justia Law