Free Motion in Limine - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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GAONA LAW FIRM
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David F. Gaona, State Bar No. 007391 Nicole Seder Cantelme, State Bar No. 021320 Attorneys for Defendants IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA MONICA ORTEGA-GUERIN, Plaintiff, vs. CITY OF PHOENIX, FRANK FAVELA, AND FRANK PERALTA Defendants. Defendants, City of Phoenix, Frank Favela and Frank Peralta, through undersigned counsel, respectfully submit this brief Supplemental Response to Plaintiff's Motion in Limine relating to Defendant Peralta, and the extent to which he can testify relative to medical issues that he has experienced. Plaintiff's motion requests that Mr. Peralta not be able to tell the jury a little bit about who he is, including issues of post-traumatic stress disorder, claiming that such information is irrelevant to the issues in this case and does not create, in the absence of medical testimony, a factual predicate for Mr. Peralta's action. As the Court is well No. CV04-0289 PHX MHM DEFENDANTS' SUPPLEMENTAL RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF'S MOTION IN LIMINE

Case 2:04-cv-00289-MHM

Document 54

Filed 12/05/2005

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3101 North Central Avenue ­ Suite 720 Phoenix, Arizona 85012

aware, it is common place for a witness to describe any medications that he or she is on that may impact their ability to testify and/or remember certain things when they testify under oath and before a jury. Mr. Peralta is presently on a number of

medications, and has been on medications for some time. Mr. Peralta is able to testify about those things so that the jury can understand a little bit about who he is, and any problems he may experience concerning recollection of events. These are fair things for Mr. Peralta to testify about so the jury knows something more about him and does not speculate or ascribe any bad motive to a problem in recollection. Mr. Peralta can also talk to the jury about how he was prior to his time in the Gulf War, and how he has been since that time; physically, mentally, and as a worker. These issues go to who he is today and who he was at the time of the incidences and speak to the person he is relative to his work ethic, relative to his credibility, relative to his demeanor; all things that the jury must assess in their role as fact-finder. To prevent Mr. Peralta from telling the jury about these things that will prevent the jury from having all relevant facts to assess concerning credibility and demeanor. For these reasons, Mr. Peralta should not be precluded from speaking to these issues at the time of trial. /// /// /// ///

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GAONA LAW FIRM

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3101 North Central Avenue ­ Suite 720 Phoenix, Arizona 85012

DATED this 5th day of December, 2005. GAONA LAW FIRM /s/ David F. Gaona David F. Gaona 3101 N. Central Ave., Suite 720 Phoenix, Arizona 85012 Attorneys for Defendants

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GAONA LAW FIRM

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3101 North Central Avenue ­ Suite 720 Phoenix, Arizona 85012

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on December 5, 2005, I electronically transmitted the attached document to the Clerk's Office using the CM/ECF System for filing and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following CM/ECF registrants: Stephen G. Montoya, Esq. MONTOYA JIMENEZ, P.A. The Great American Tower 3200 North Central Avenue, Suite 2550 Phoenix, Arizona 85012 I further certify that on December 5, 2005, the attached document was handdelivered to: The Honorable Mary H. Murguia United States District Court for the District of Arizona Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse 401 West Washington Street Phoenix, Arizona 85003 s/David F. Gaona

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GAONA LAW FIRM

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