Green v. Junious

In prosecution on section 1983 action, alleging that defendants-police officers used excessive force by shooting plaintiff during his apprehension in parking lot incident in which defendants claimed that plaintiff had aimed gun at them, Dist. Ct. did not err in giving jury Gilbert (512 F.3d 899) instruction that informed jurors that plaintiff was bound by prior finding of guilt in probation revocation proceeding, during which court found that plaintiff had gun during instant parking lot incident. Record showed that Dist. Ct. read such instruction each time plaintiff or his witnesses testified that plaintiff did not have handgun during said incident. Gilbert instruction is essentially issue-preclusion instruction that properly served to preclude plaintiff from disputing fact that he possessed gun during parking lot due to prior finding that he had gun during said incident. Similarly, Dist. Ct. did not err in barring testimony of lab technician, where said testimony was proffered to bolster plaintiff’s claim that he had no gun during incident.