Today the 7th Circuit concluded that a district court erred in granting a motion in limine. The case involved a small city police department and a woman who had been arrested some 8 years before the incident involved in this suit. During the earlier arrest the woman claimed she had been victimized by excessive force and settled with the city and an officer. In this case, the woman was driving on a suspended license for which a BOLO was issued with a warrant for her arrest. An officer spotted her and attempted to stop her. She claimed fear and headed home. When she eluded the police (with them following closely) and got home, she got out of the van she was driving and the officer from 8 years ago brought her to the ground and jumped on top of her only to be bitten by her friend's pit bull. Another officer finally effectuated the arrest. Should the facts of the previous incident be included as evidence in the trial? The 7th Circuit ruled that it was improperly excluded. In my view, it might have done so more concisely, but I could probably have been more brief in writing this note. As a practical tip, having won a motion in limine that excludes evidence of the Plaintiff's motives, it probably makes sense not to argue to the jury as to why the Plaintiff wouldn't stop for the police. http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2018/D08-24/C:17-1557:J:Rovner:aut:T:fnOp:N:2207364:S:0 [cid:image009.png@01D3AEF0.7E565ED0] Charles W Thompson, Jr Executive Director / General Counsel at International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. A 51 Monroe St., Suite 404, Rockville, MD, 20850 [cid:image011.jpg@01D3AEF0.7E565ED0]<http://www.facebook.com/IMLA-259977855541/> [cid:image013.jpg@01D3AEF0.7E565ED0] <http://www.linkedin.com/company/international-municipal-lawyers-association-inc./> [cid:image014.jpg@01D3AEF0.7E565ED0] <http://twitter.com/imlalegal> [cid:image015.jpg@01D3AEF0.7E565ED0] <http://soundcloud.com/internationalmunicipallawyersassociation> P (202) 466-5424 ext. 7110 M (240)-876-6790 D (202) 742-1016 W www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org/> Plan Ahead! IMLA's 83rd Annual Conference<http://imla.org/events/conferences>, October 17-21 in Houston, TX!