CA7: Officer’s “sucker-punch” and two minute beating of a “suspect” for no apparent reason violated 4A and supported officer’s civil rights conviction

Officer’s “sucker-punch” of store clerk then beating him for no apparent reason for two minutes justified his conviction for violating the store clerk’s Fourth Amendment rights. United States v. Brown, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 17403 (7th Cir. Sept. 8, 2017):

While investigating a tip that illegal drugs were being sold from a south-side convenience store, Chicago Police Officer Aldo Brown sucker-punched a store employee for no apparent reason. As the dazed employee attempted to stagger away, Brown continued to beat and kick him for about two minutes. The beating was caught on the store’s surveillance camera. A federal grand jury indicted Brown for willfully depriving the employee of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force inflicted by a law-enforcement officer.

At trial Brown sought to introduce expert testimony from a former Chicago police officer who would testify that Brown’s actions were consistent with departmental standards. Ruling on the government’s motion in limine, the district judge excluded the expert witness, reasoning that departmental policy was immaterial to the Fourth Amendment inquiry and that the expert’s proposed testimony might include an improper opinion about Brown’s state of mind.

The jury found Brown guilty. He challenges his conviction, arguing that the judge wrongly excluded his expert witness. We reject this argument and affirm. Expert testimony about police standards may appropriately assist the jury in resolving some excessive-force questions, but sometimes evidence of this type is unhelpful and thus irrelevant, particularly when no specialized knowledge is needed to determine whether the officer’s conduct was objectively unreasonable. The misconduct alleged here was easily within the grasp of a lay jury, so the judge did not abuse her discretion in excluding the expert.