Marshall v. City of Chicago

In section 1983 action alleging that defendants-police officers arrested plaintiff on firearm charges without probable cause, Dist. Ct. did not abuse its discretion by denying plaintiff’s motion to excuse juror for cause, even though said juror held erroneous belief that her son’s parole prohibited anyone from possessing firearm in home. Said juror’s alleged bias was immaterial, since it had no bearing on constructive possession issue in plaintiff’s case. Moreover, juror gave unequivocal assurance that she could perform her jury duties impartially. Dist. Ct. also did not abuse its discretion in denying plaintiff’s motion to set aside parties’ agreement regarding process to select jury so as to increase likelihood of African-American sitting on instant jury, since plaintiff could not ask Dist. Ct. to be “race conscious” in jury selection.