The opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
RICHARD HART
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
21-CV-699-SDD-RLB
MARCUS ALLEN
RULING
Before the Court is the Motion in Limine to Exclude To Exclude the Report and any
Testimony of Lloyd Grafton.1 The Motion is opposed.2 For the following reasons, the
Motion3 is GRANTED.
I. BACKGROUND
Plaintiff alleges that DOC security officers, Captain Marcus Allen (“Allen”) and Major
Ray Johnson (“Johnson”), employed unnecessary and excessive use of force on him
causing him multiple injuries. The Plaintiff engaged Lloyd Grafton to provide opinion
testimony on the use of force and whether the officer’s conduct violated DOC policies and
procedures.
II. LAW AND ANALYSIS
Federal Rule of Evidence 702 guides the Court’s analysis. Movant does not challenge
Grafton’s qualifications. Defendant argues that Grafton’s opinions are largely legal
conclusions and otherwise invade the fact-finding role of the jury. The Court agrees. Mr.
Grafton’s opines that the alleged conduct of the defendant officers was “unprofessional”
1 Rec. Doc. 42.
2 Rec. Doc. 43.
3 Rec. Doc. 42.
and violated DOC regulations, that there was “no cause to take Mr. Hart into an area
away from cameras”, and that the defendants “failed to properly document this event,
which is a violation of the policies”.4
The Court finds that Mr. Grafton’s opinions are unnecessary to “help the trier of fact
to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue”. As in other cases before the
Court Mr. Grafton’s opinions in this case “go to the ultimate question to be determined by
the jury or are stated as legal conclusions.”5 Moreover, whether the alleged actions of the
defendants were excessive or violative of DOC regulations are within the fact-finding
purview of the jury.6 Just as in the Fetty7 case, in this case Mr. Grafton proposes to finds
facts and draw legal conclusions regarding the reasonableness and necessity of
Defendants’ purported conduct.
IT IS ORDERED that the Motion in Limine [Rec. Doc. 42] to Exclude the Opinion
Testimony of Lloyd Grafton be and is hereby GRANTED.
Signed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on October 26, 2023.
S
CHIEF JUDGE SHELLY D. DICK
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
4 Rec. Doc. 42-2.
5 Jones v Lollis, CV 18-885, 2020 WL 3469105, at *2 (M.D. La. June 25, 2020).
6 Brown v. Strain, CV 09-2813, 2010 WL 3523026 (M.D. La. Aug. 31, 2010).
7 Fetty v. The City of Baton Rouge, 518 F. Supp. 3d 923 (M.D. La. 2021).