YVON WAGNER V. COUNTY OF MARICOPA, No. 10-15501 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseCourt Description: Civil Rights. The panel amended its prior opinion, reversed the district court’s judgment, entered following a jury trial, and remanded in an action brought by the Estate of Eric Vogel asserting that jail officials were partially responsible for Vogel’s death from acute cardiac arrhythmia following his release from jail. The Estate alleged that County of Maricopa jail officers subjected Vogel, who suffered from a mental illness, to an unreasonable search and seizure while he was a pretrial detainee. Prior to transferring Vogel into the jail’s psychiatric unit, defendants subjected him to a “dress out,” during which they forced him on the ground, stripped him of all his clothes, and changed him into the jail outfit, which included pink underwear. In the amended opinion, the panel did not reach the admissibility of plaintiff’s expert medical testimony because it determined that as the case developed under the district court’s rulings, the testimony lacked all foundation. The panel held that the district court erred by limiting the testimony of Vogel’s sister at trial under the hearsay rule because her statements were offered to establish Vogel’s state of mind. The panel further held that the district court erred by excluding references to the pink underwear, and that, unexplained and undefended, the dress-out in pink appeared to be punishment without legal justification. The panel held that it appeared that this due process question was still open for exploration at trial on remand. Alternatively, the panel held that plaintiff may prevail on the narrower issue of whether defendants were deliberately indifferent to Vogel’s serious medical needs. Dissenting, Judge N. Smith stated that the majority failed to correctly construe the hearsay rule and failed to give the proper deference to the district court’s other evidentiary rulings. In the amended dissent, Judge N. Smith also stated that as a result of the majority’s errors, contrary to the Federal Rules of Evidence, non-contemporaneous hearsay testimony used to prove a declarant’s memories, beliefs, and the cause of an underlying state of mind was now admissible.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on March 7, 2012.
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FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT YVON WAGNER, as the personal representative of the Estate of Eric Vogel, Plaintiff-Appellant, No. 10-15501 D.C. No. 2:07-cv-00819EHC v. COUNTY OF MARICOPA , a political subdivision of the State of Arizona; JOSEPH M. ARPAIO , husband; UNKNOWN ARPAIO , Named as Jane Doe Arpaio - wife, Defendants-Appellees. ORDER AND AMENDED OPINION Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Earl H. Carroll, Senior District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted April 15, 2011 San Francisco, California Filed November 16, 2012 Amended February 13, 2013 2 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA Before: John T. Noonan and N. Randy Smith, Circuit Judges, and Frederic Block, Senior District Judge.* Order; Opinion by Judge Noonan; Dissent by Judge N.R. Smith SUMMARY** Civil Rights The panel amended its prior opinion, reversed the district court s judgment, entered following a jury trial, and remanded in an action brought by the Estate of Eric Vogel asserting that jail officials were partially responsible for Vogel s death from acute cardiac arrhythmia following his release from jail. The Estate alleged that County of Maricopa jail officers subjected Vogel, who suffered from a mental illness, to an unreasonable search and seizure while he was a pretrial detainee. Prior to transferring Vogel into the jail s psychiatric unit, defendants subjected him to a dress out, during which they forced him on the ground, stripped him of all his clothes, and changed him into the jail outfit, which included pink underwear. In the amended opinion, the panel * T he Honorable Frederic Block, Senior District Judge for the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York, Brooklyn, sitting by designation. ** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 3 did not reach the admissibility of plaintiff s expert medical testimony because it determined that as the case developed under the district court s rulings, the testimony lacked all foundation. The panel held that the district court erred by limiting the testimony of Vogel s sister at trial under the hearsay rule because her statements were offered to establish Vogel s state of mind. The panel further held that the district court erred by excluding references to the pink underwear, and that, unexplained and undefended, the dress-out in pink appeared to be punishment without legal justification. The panel held that it appeared that this due process question was still open for exploration at trial on remand. Alternatively, the panel held that plaintiff may prevail on the narrower issue of whether defendants were deliberately indifferent to Vogel s serious medical needs. Dissenting, Judge N. Smith stated that the majority failed to correctly construe the hearsay rule and failed to give the proper deference to the district court s other evidentiary rulings. In the amended dissent, Judge N. Smith also stated that as a result of the majority s errors, contrary to the Federal Rules of Evidence, non-contemporaneous hearsay testimony used to prove a declarant s memories, beliefs, and the cause of an underlying state of mind was now admissible. 4 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA COUNSEL John M. Curtin, Phoenix, Arizona, for Plaintiff-Appellant. Eileen D. Gilbride, Phoenix, Arizona, for DefendantsAppellees. ORDER The opinion filed on November 16, 2012 is amended by eliminating the following part of the opinion: At Slip opinion page 13356 at <Medical experts> through to page 13359 ending immediately before <Argument to the Jury.> Insert in its place the following paragraph: <In addition, these rulings deprived the plaintiff of any foundation for medical testimony as to the probable cause of Vogel s death. We do not reach the admissibility of the medical testimony because as the case developed under the district court s rulings, the testimony lacked all foundation.> The dissenting portion of the opinion filed on November 16, 2012 is amended by eliminating the following: At Slip opinion page 13359 delete <In its opinion, the majority> and replace it with the following paragraph: <They say the third time s the charm. Not so in what is now the third revision of this opinion, wherein the majority still fails to correct all of its errors. As a result of these WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 5 errors, contrary to the Federal Rules of Evidence, non-contemporaneous hearsay testimony used to prove a declarant s memories, beliefs, and the cause of an underlying state of mind is now admissible. Making matters worse, the majority allows such testimony absent a foundation of personal knowledge. In its opinion, the majority reverses the district court on issues that have been waived and are not properly before the panel,> The dissenting portion of the opinion is further amended by eliminating the following part of the dissent: At Slip opinion page 13369 at <IV. EXPERT TESTIMONY> through to page 13372 immediately before <V. CLOSING ARGUMENT.> The section entitled <CLOSING ARGUMENT> should be renumbered to roman numeral IV. In light of these amendments, any petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc shall be filed within fourteen days from the date of this order. OPINION NOONAN, Circuit Judge: The central figure in this case, Eric Vogel, suffered from mental illness. Our system of laws is administered by rational human beings. It has always been a challenge to the legal system to interact with the irrational. 6 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA Yvon Wagner, as the personal representative of the estate of her brother, Eric Vogel, appeals the judgment of the district court in favor of the defendants, County of Maricopa and Joseph Arpaio. We reverse the judgment and remand for a new trial. FACTS Eric Vogel was born on December 21, 1964. By the age of six, he was showing signs of potential illness. His parents withdrew him from school when he was in the second grade, and he was thereafter home-schooled until he graduated from high school. He attended a community college for two semesters and part of a semester at Arizona State University. Thereafter, he simply lived at home. Living at home, without further formal education, Vogel had no gainful employment and lived a remarkably restricted life. The windows of his home itself were covered with blankets and tape so that no one could see in. After his father s death or departure, he lived alone with his mother. He left the home no more than two or three times to attend the funerals of relatives. In October 2001, when Vogel was 36, his sister, Yvon Wagner, visited the home and found him to be delusional, imagining that a snake was around his neck. On the morning of November 12, 2001, for no apparent reason, Vogel left his home. Police responded to a report of a burglar in the neighborhood and spotted Vogel as a possible suspect. The first officer on the scene struggled to get control of him while Vogel shouted, Kill me. When a second officer arrived, Vogel stated that he, Vogel, must see the president. The police said they would accommodate him. He calmed down, and they drove him to the Phoenix jail. WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 7 In Arizona, common jails are kept by the sheriff of the county. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 31-101. Joseph Arpaio, as the sheriff of Maricopa County, kept the jail to which Vogel was brought. Vogel was put under arrest for assaulting a police officer. He completed a medical questionnaire, indicating that he had high blood pressure but no other health problems. A classification counselor interviewed him and placed a psychiatric hold on him. A psychological counselor examined him and concluded that he needed psychiatric care. He was put in an isolation cell with a huge window opening the cell to the view of the jailers and to inmates. The next morning, November 13, Vogel was assessed by a psychological counselor as disoriented, paranoid, and psychotic. He told her that he was at the World Trade Center getting messages from satellites. She obtained an order for his transfer to the inpatient psychiatric unit at the jail. That afternoon, Vogel was informed that he must dressout. In the argot of the jail, to dress-out was to change from one s civilian clothes to prison garb approved by Sheriff Arpaio. The prison outfit included pink underwear. Vogel declined to change. The dress-out prison officer summoned assistance four other officers, each to hold an arm or a leg while Vogel s clothes were changed. He was placed on the ground, stripped of all his clothes, and forced into the jail ensemble including the pink underwear. As the process went on, he shouted that he was being raped. The officers were aware that he was being transferred to the Psychiatric Unit. At the end of the dress-out Vogel was wheeled there in a restraint chair. 8 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA Vogel received treatment for a week and was then bailed out by his mother. On December 6, 2001, he was in his mother s car when she had a minor traffic accident. The police were summoned. Before they arrived, however, Vogel left the scene and attempted to walk four or five miles to his home. He died the next day. The cause, according to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner, was acute cardiac arrhythmia. PROCEEDINGS On December 6, 2002, Vogel s mother as representative of his estate began this action in Arizona Superior Court. It was removed by the defendants to the federal district court, which eventually returned the case to the state court. The plaintiff amended to assert a claim against the defendants for violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for subjecting Vogel to an unreasonable search and seizure, denying due process and the equal protection of the laws, and acting with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. A claim was also asserted under the Americans with Disability Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq., and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, as well as several claims under Arizona law. The case was transferred back to the federal district court. In limine, the district court ruled that Vogel s mother and sister could not testify to what he told them about events at the jail. The court also ruled that counsel could not refer to pink underwear unless he could show that the record contained credible evidence that Vogel was aware of the color of the underwear. The court also precluded the testimony of the plaintiff s expert, Dr. Spitz, that Vogel s death was in part caused by the dress-out, thereby WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 9 preventing the issue of liability for the death from reaching the jury. The court also limited the testimony of Dr. Esplin. Before trial began, Vogel s mother died and his sister Yvon Wagner replaced her as the representative of the estate. At the close of the trial, the court denied plaintiff s counsel the opportunity to make a rebuttal. The jury returned a verdict for the defendants on each count. This appeal followed. DISCUSSION We review evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion and reverse if the exercise of discretion is both erroneous and prejudicial. As Judge Smith points out, it is not entirely clear whether construction of a hearsay rule is a matter of discretion or a legal issue subject to de novo review. Compare United States v. Stinson, 647 F.3d 1196, 1210 11 (9th Cir. 2011), with United States v. Ortega, 203 F.3d 675, 682 (9th Cir. 2000). We need not resolve the ambiguity here because our conclusions would be the same under either standard. We begin with the ruling limiting the testimony of Yvon Wagner. Exclusion of Wagner s testimony. deposition stated: Wagner in her He [her brother] felt he was being raped. He felt one of the officers attempted to put his penis in his mouth and that he had to keep his mouth so tight that he bruised his outer lips to avoid being accosted that way. 10 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA He was sure they were going to rape him. He hollered to people. He was sure that all the inmates heard him saying who he was and that he was being raped and please help him. And they were, you know, have [sic] a party at his expense. . . . He believed he had been raped. He believed somebody took their penis out of their pants and attempted to insert it in his mouth. And that s as close to my brother was a virgin. He 36 years old, never touched another woman. This was very, I m sure, frightening for him. In response to the motion in limine, Wagner made the same argument she makes now. She argued that her statements were not being offered to prove the details of the incident at the jail. Her testimony is not to prove an actual rape, but instead to show her brother s state of mind following his incarceration. Her testimony establish[es] the impact that the event had on Eric. Yvon can testify as to the statements he made, his tone of voice, and his state of mind in making them. Federal Rule of Evidence 803(3) excepts from the general exclusion of hearsay statement[s] of the declarant s then-existing state of mind (such as motive, intent, or plan) or emotional, sensory, or physical condition (such as mental feeling, pain, or bodily health), but not including a statement WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 11 of memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or believed[.] The declarant is the person who made the outof-court statement. See Fed. R. Evid. 801(b). Indisputably, Wagner could have testified at trial about the impact the jail incident had on Vogel, his mood following the incident, how disturbed he seemed, and even what he thought happened to him during the incident, all without putting inadmissible hearsay before the jury. None of this testimony would have been put forth in order to establish the truth of what he had said. Wagner proposed to testify about how extremely delusional Vogel was following the incident, and more importantly, the emotional impact the incident had on him, including how humiliated he now felt by the pink underwear. She was not asserting the truth of anything that Vogel said had happened to him in jail. Her testimony was admissible not to prove the fact remembered or believed but the mental feeling of Vogel. As our dissenting colleague points out, the limiting language of Rule 803(3) bars statements as to why [the declarant] held the particular state of mind, or what he might have believed that would have induced the state of mind. United States v. Emmert, 829 F.2d 805, 810 (9th Cir. 1987) (quoting United States v. Cohen, 631 F.2d 1223, 1225 (5th Cir. 1980)). The bar applies only when the statements are offered to prove the truth of the fact underlying the memory or belief. In Emmert, for example, the defendant sought to introduce his out-of-court statement that he was scared because of the threats made by the agents. 829 F.2d at 810. Here, Vogel s statements to his sister were offered to establish his state of mind, not that he was raped or that he went through the dress-out procedure. The statements were 12 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA offered to show his state of mind at the time of the conversation, thus satisfying any contemporaneity requirement. See United States v. Ponticelli, 622 F.2d 985, 991 (9th Cir. 1980), overruled on other grounds by United States v. De Bright, 730 F.2d 1255, 1259 (9th Cir. 1984) (en banc). That Vogel was subjected to the dress-out was established by the testimony of the defendants employees. The jury could infer the connection between the dress-out and Vogel s mental state. Exclusion of this evidence was erroneous. The defense argument that Wagner lacked personal knowledge is mistaken. She had personal knowledge of how Vogel had been impacted by the incident. She testified as a percipient of what she had observed. The court curtailed Yvon Wagner s testimony further by not permitting her to testify to Vogel s conversation with her where he gave his sense of humiliation at being forced to wear pink underwear or his sense of having been subjected to a rape. The court banned any testimony mentioning rape or gang rape unless counsel showed that the terms were not unduly prejudicial. As already noted, the court excluded reference to the color of the clothes put on Vogel unless there was credible evidence that Vogel was aware of the color of the jail-issued underwear. The rulings as to rape and gang rape misconceived any testimony Wagner would have offered. She would have used the words to show her brother s present state of mind, not his past experience. As to testimony of Vogel s perception of the color, Wagner s testimony was to the current state of her brother s WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 13 mind when he spoke to her. His mind was focused on the implications of being dressed in pink. That he had been dressed in pink was not a delusion. It was a fact, essential to his experience and to the Estate s deliberate indifference and due process claims. The jury was asked to evaluate whether the jail s measures were taken in furtherance of a legitimate goal or whether they were, instead, punitive. The exclusion of any mention of pink underwear or rape delivered a second blow to the plaintiff s case. That Vogel was delusional does not mean that he was incapable of seeing. If you pricked him, he bled. As his eyes saw the pink, his mind made the association of the color. So at least a jury could infer from the impact of the dress-out on Vogel, an impact apparent from his conversation with his sister. Exclusion of references to the color pink. When a color of such symbolic significance is selected for jail underwear, it is difficult to believe that the choice of color was random. The County offers no penological reason, indeed no explanation whatsoever for its jail s odd choice. Given the cultural context, it is a fair inference that the color is chosen to symbolize a loss of masculine identity and power, to shame and stigmatize the male prisoners as feminine. Unpleasant physical measures e.g., a strip search may be necessary to secure the safety of an institution even though they impinge on the dignity of innocent inmates. Bull v. City and County of San Francisco, 595 F.3d 964 (9th Cir. 2010) (en banc). As the Supreme Court has explained: [I]f a particular condition or restriction of pretrial detention is reasonably related to a 14 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA legitimate governmental objective, it does not, without more, amount to punishment. Conversely, if a restriction or condition is not reasonably related to a legitimate goal--if it is arbitrary or purposeless--a court permissibly may infer that the purpose of the governmental action is punishment that may not constitutionally be inflicted upon detainees qua detainees. Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 539 (1979) (citations omitted). Unexplained and undefended, the dress-out in pink appears to be punishment without legal justification. It appears to us that this due process question is still open for exploration at trial on remand. Alternatively, the plaintiff may prevail on the narrower proposition that for the jail to apply this procedure automatically to a man its own staff had identified as in need of psychiatric treatment was in deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. Because of the evidentiary rulings of the trial court, neither issue was properly presented to the jury. In addition, these rulings deprived the plaintiff of any foundation for medical testimony as to the probable cause of Vogel s death. We do not reach the admissibility of the medical testimony because as the case developed under the district court s rulings, the testimony lacked all foundation. Argument to the Jury. The district court abruptly eliminated the plaintiff s opportunity for rebuttal argument. No good reason was given for this disappointment of the plaintiff s legitimate expectation. If the court intends to WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 15 restrict rebuttal, the litigants should be so advised prior to the argument. Counsel for the county suggested that Vogel s family had not provided adequate care for Eric Vogel. The argument was irrelevant and improper. For the reasons stated, the judgment of the district court is REVERSED and the case is REMANDED for proceedings in accordance with this opinion. N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judge, dissenting: They say the third time s the charm. Not so in what is now the third revision of this opinion, wherein the majority still fails to correct all of its errors. As a result of these errors, contrary to the Federal Rules of Evidence, noncontemporaneous hearsay testimony used to prove a declarant s memories, beliefs, and the cause of an underlying state of mind is now admissible. Making matters worse, the majority allows such testimony absent a foundation of personal knowledge. In its opinion, the majority reverses the district court on issues that have been waived and are not properly before the panel, fails to correctly construe the hearsay rule and fails to give the proper deference to the district court s other evidentiary rulings. I must therefore dissent because: 1. Assuming (but not deciding) that a de novo standard of review applies when determining whether a statement is hearsay, the majority fails to properly construe the hearsay rule. Under the hearsay rule, statements asserting a 16 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA declarant s beliefs are hearsay, if offered to prove the declarant s belief or offered for a purpose that requires the declarant to believe the matters asserted are true. Therefore, the district court did not err in concluding that Yvon Wagner s testimony was hearsay. 2. The majority fails to apply the substantially deferential abuse of discretion test, recently elucidated by our en banc panel in United States v. Hinkson, 585 F.3d 1247, 1262 (9th Cir. 2009) (en banc), for the remaining evidentiary issues appealed here. Though an appellate jurist may have ruled differently on these issues, we may not simply substitute our view for that of the district court, but rather must give the district court s findings deference. Id. I. STANDARD OF REVIEW This circuit s case law is not entirely clear regarding whether we review de novo a district court s decision that a statement is or is not hearsay. Compare United States v. Stinson, 647 F.3d 1196, 1210 (9th Cir. 2011) ( We review a district court s evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. ), and United States v. Tran, 568 F.3d 1156, 1162 (9th Cir. 2009) (applying an abuse of discretion standard in determining whether a statement is hearsay under Rule 801), with Mahone v. Lehman, 347 F.3d 1170, 1173 74 (9th Cir. 2003) ( We review the district court s construction of the hearsay rule de novo . . . . (quoting Orr v. Bank of Am., NT & SA, 285 F.3d 764, 778 (9th Cir. 2002))), United States v. Collicott, 92 F.3d 973, 978 82 (9th Cir. 1996) (holding that the district court erred, because the statements at issue were hearsay and not admissible under Rule 801(d)(1)(B), never WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 17 mentioning whether the district court abused its discretion, but rather seems to have reviewed the hearsay determination de novo), and United States v. Warren, 25 F.3d 890, 894 95 (9th Cir. 1994) (held that the statements at issue were admissible under Rule 801(d)(2)(A) because they were not hearsay, with no mention of an abuse of discretion). The Second Circuit and Sixth Circuit have held that a district court s determination whether a statement is hearsay is reviewed de novo. United States. v. Ferguson, 653 F.3d 61, 86 (2d Cir. 2011); Biegas v. Quickway Carriers, Inc., 573 F.3d 365, 378 381 (6th Cir. 2009). But see Trepel v. Roadway Exp., Inc., 194 F.3d 708, 716 17 (6th Cir. 1999) ( Therefore, in disregard of our heretofore well-settled precedent that hearsay evidentiary rulings are reviewed de novo, we shall review the district court s ruling for an abuse of discretion. (citation omitted)). We review the district court s remaining evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. Gen. Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 141 (1997). We do not reverse evidentiary rulings unless the rulings are manifestly erroneous and prejudicial. Orr, 285 F.3d at 773. This includes the exclusion of evidence under a hearsay rule. Stinson, 647 F.3d at 1210. We also review the district court s handling of closing arguments for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Lazarenko, 564 F.3d 1026, 1043 (9th Cir. 2009). Our circuit employs a significantly deferential two-step test to determine whether a district court abused its discretion. Hinkson, 585 F.3d at 1262. The first step is to determine de novo whether the trial court identified the correct legal rule to apply to the relief requested. Id. If so, the second step is 18 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA to determine whether the trial court s application of the correct legal standard was (1) illogical, (2) implausible, or (3) without support in inferences that may be drawn from the facts in the record. Id. (quoting Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, N.C., 470 U.S. 564, 577 (1985)). If any of these three apply, only then are we able to have a definite and firm conviction that the district court reached a conclusion that was a mistake or was not among its permissible options, and thus that it abused its discretion by making a clearly erroneous finding of fact. Id. In other words, we do not automatically reverse a district court s factual finding if we decide a mistake has been committed. Id. at 1263. II. WAGNER S TESTIMONY The majority first concludes that the district court erred by excluding testimony from Vogel s sister, Yvon Wagner, regarding statements made by Vogel (who was deceased before trial).1 Wagner would have testified regarding Vogel s thoughts and beliefs during the dress-out procedure based on statements Vogel purportedly made after the fact to Wagner. The majority finds that the district court erred, apparently as a matter of law, no matter whether the standard 1 W agner would have testified that Vogel (1) said the detention officers dressed him in pink underwear, in pink slippers and, again, at his expense they were accosting him during the dress-out procedure; (2) believed he had been raped; (3) felt one of the officers attempted to put his penis in his mouth and that he had to keep his mouth so tight that he bruised his outer lips to avoid being accosted that way, and (4) believed the officers used the pink underwear to put him in a vulnerable position before a planned sex party. WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 19 of review is de novo or abuse of discretion. The majority erroneously concludes that Wagner s testimony was not offered to prove what Vogel asserted. A. Wagner s testimony was hearsay evidence The Estate argues that Wagner s testimony was not hearsay, because it was not offered to prove the details of the dress-out procedure (i.e., that Vogel was actually raped). Instead, the Estate argues that Wagner s testimony was offered to show Vogel s state of mind following the dress-out procedure and the lasting impact the event had on Vogel following his release. The majority asserts that Wagner was not asserting the truth of anything that Vogel said had happened to him in jail. Maj. Op at 11. I disagree with both. Wagner s testimony was offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted i.e., that Vogel believed the events he described happened. The district court did not incorrectly construe or apply the hearsay rule. Hearsay is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Fed. R. Evid. 801(c). The majority agrees that, if Wagner s testimony including Vogel s statements that (1) he was forcibly undressed by detention officers, (2) he was dressed in pink underwear and slippers, (3) the officers manhandled him on the floor of his jail cell, and (4) he called out to other inmates for help were offered for the truth of the matter asserted, it would be hearsay. Even if this information were consistent with other evidence in this case, it could not be proven by Wagner using hearsay evidence. 20 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA However, the Estate and the majority assert that Wagner s testimony is not offered to prove the truth of anything that Vogel said had happened to him in jail. Maj. Op. at 11. That assertion may be true, but it is not focused on Wagner s statements. For example, Wagner testified that Vogel (1) felt he was being raped, (2) felt one of the officers attempted to put his penis in his mouth, (3) believed he was being raped, and (4) believed the pink underwear was used to put him in [a] vulnerable position with these officers. Wagner s testimony is offered to prove the truth of what Vogel asserted i.e., that he believed what he described occurred. A statement is hearsay if offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Focusing on Wagner s statements, they are hearsay, because they were offered to show that Vogel actually believed the facts asserted. 30B Michael H. Graham, Federal Practice & Procedure § 7044 (interim ed. 2000) (explaining that second-hand statements of belief are hearsay, but may be admissible under Rule 803(3) s exception to the hearsay rule). Further, the statements are hearsay, because it must be proven that Vogel believed the matters asserted were true for the Estate s mental state argument to succeed. Id. § 7006 ( If the declarant must believe the matter asserted to be true for any inference to logically flow, . . . the hearsay risks of sincerity and narration are present. Such statements are thus properly classified as hearsay. ). The Estate never made an offer of proof to demonstrate that the proffered testimony complied with the hearsay rule. Therefore, the district court s determination (that Wagner s testimony was hearsay) was not erroneous and the district court did not misconstrue the hearsay rule. WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 21 B. Wagner s testimony did not fall under Rule 803(3) s then-existing state of mind exception to the hearsay rule The Estate argues that, even if Wagner s testimony were hearsay, it was admissible as evidence under the state of mind exception in Federal Rule of Evidence 803(3). The majority agrees. However, the district court disagreed and, because this is a discretionary decision, we must afford the district court s decision substantial deference. Here, the district court s determination that Wagner s testimony regarding Vogel s post-release statements did not fall under Rule 803(3) s state of mind exception was not illogical, implausible, or without support in inferences that may be drawn from the facts in the record. The statements (1) were statements of memory or belief made at least one week after the events at issue; and (2) were offered not simply to demonstrate Vogel s present mental condition but his past mental condition (i.e., that he was agitated), and also to explain why he was agitated (i.e., that he believed he was being raped). Therefore, although we may have decided this issue differently, the district court did not abuse its discretion. Rule 803(3) creates an exception to the hearsay rule for [a] statement of the declarant s then existing state of mind, emotion, sensation, or physical condition (such as intent, plan, motive, design, mental feeling, pain, and bodily health), but not including a statement of memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or believed . . . . Fed. R. Evid. 803(3) (2010) (emphasis added). Vogel s statements do not meet Rule 803(3) s foundational requirements of contemporaneousness, [lack of] chance for reflection, and relevance. United States v. Ponticelli, 622 F.2d 985, 991 (9th Cir. 1980), overruled on other grounds by United States 22 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA v. De Bright, 730 F.2d 1255, 1259 (9th Cir. 1984) (en banc). Vogel explained the dress out procedure to his family following his release from jail, which was at least seven days after the procedure took place. These were statement[s] of memory, which are expressly prohibited under Rule 803(3). The Rules of Evidence exclude statements of memory, because [t]he more time that elapses between the declaration and the period about which the declarant is commenting, the less reliable is his statement . . . . The state of mind declaration also has probative value, because the declarant presumably has no chance for reflection and therefore for misrepresentation. Ponticelli, 622 F.2d at 991. Vogel conceivably could have misrepresented what happened at the jail (or what he believed happened) to explain or justify his unruly conduct with the officers. Thus, although detention officers testimony about what Vogel said during the dressout procedure is admissible (given its contemporaneity), Vogel s statements a week or two after the fact do not provide the same probative value contemplated by the exception in Rule 803(3). See United States v. Miller, 874 F.2d 1255, 1265 (9th Cir. 1989) (holding that hearsay statements made less than 24 hours after an event did not meet the contemporaneity and lack of reflection requirements under Rule 803(3)). Additionally, Wagner s statements were offered to show not only that Vogel was agitated during the dress-out procedure, but also why he was agitated. Such use of Wagner s statements is not permitted under Rule 803(3), as interpreted by our circuit. We stated in United States v. Emmert that the state-of-mind exception does not permit the witness to relate any of the declarant s statements as to why he held the particular state of mind, or what he might have believed that would have induced the state of mind. WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 23 829 F.2d 805, 810 (9th Cir. 1987) (emphasis added) (quoting United States v. Cohen, 631 F.2d 1223, 1225 (5th Cir. 1980)); see also id. ( [Rule 803(3)] . . . narrowly limit[s] admissible statements to declarations of condition I m scared and not belief I m scared because [someone] threatened me. (emphasis altered) (internal quotation marks omitted)). We reaffirmed the validity of Emmert in United States v. Fontenot by holding that hearsay statements did not fall under the exception in Rule 803(3), because the statements related why the declarant held the particular state of mind. United States v. Fontenot, 14 F.3d 1364, 1371 (9th Cir. 1994). The Fifth Circuit and Tenth Circuit also do not allow statements that identify why the declarant has the particular state of mind. See, e.g., United States v. Lin, 960 F.2d 449, 452 (5th Cir. 1992) (holding that [e]vidence of . . . fear was admitted, but [p]roperly excluded were the alleged reasons for that fear (citing Cohen, 631 F.2d at 1225)); United States v. Ledford, 443 F.3d 702, 709 10 (10th Cir. 2005) ( The phrase because the defendant threatened me is expressly outside the state-of-mind exception because the explanation for the fear expresses a belief different from the state of mind of being afraid. ). The majority contends that we made it clear in Emmert that the bar applies only when the statements are offered to prove the truth of the facts underlying the memory or belief. Maj. Op. at 11. However, in Emmert and Fontenot, we did not indicate that our decisions hinged on the declarant offering the reasons for the belief in order to prove the events believed. Rather, our decisions identified the reason for the exclusion to be that the testimony would have fallen within the belief category and would not have been limited to [the declarant s] current state of mind. Emmert, 829 F.2d at 810; see also Fontenot, 14 F.3d at 1371 (noting that the 24 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA statements would have demonstrated that [Fontenot] believed his and Cathy Fontenot s lives were in danger (alterations in original)). Here, Wagner intended to testify that Vogel was agitated, because he believed he was being raped and the officers were dressing him in pink underwear for a sex party. This testimony was central to the Estate s theory of causation that Vogel s traumatic experience in jail caused his fatal arrhythmia several weeks later. For these reasons, and in light of our case law, the district court s application of Rule 803(3) to the facts of this case was not illogical, implausible, or without support in inferences that may be drawn from the facts in the record. The district court did not abuse its discretion. C. Wagner s testimony lacked foundation The majority also determines that the district court abused its discretion in concluding that Wagner lacked personal knowledge about Vogel s mental condition during the jailhouse dress-out procedure. However, the majority again fails to give any deference to the district court s decision. Federal Rule of Evidence 602 provides that a witness may not testify to a matter unless evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter. Evidence to prove personal knowledge may, but need not, consist of the witness own testimony. (emphasis added). The majority claims Wagner had adequate foundation, because she had personal knowledge of her conversation with Vogel and perceived his emotions. The majority claims Vogel s statement s went to establish his state of mind at the time he spoke to his sister. Maj. Op. at 11 12. If Wagner s testimony were only offered to prove WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 25 Vogel s temperament during his conversation with Wagner, the majority would be correct. However, Wagner intended to offer various opinions regarding Vogel s state of mind while in jail and why he reacted the way he did during the dress-out procedure. For example, Wagner, testified that (1) Vogel believed he was being raped, (2) Vogel believed the pink underwear was used to put him in [a] vulnerable position, (3) Vogel hid under his bed to protect himself because he was paranoid and felt he was in extreme harm s way, and (4) this was very, I m sure, frightening for him. The Estate s entire theory of liability turns on the purportedly indelible trauma Vogel endured during his stay at the county jail. Thus, there is no doubt that Wagner offered this testimony to prove what Vogel felt and believed while he was in jail not how he felt as he described the jailhouse incident a week later. To be sure, the County objected to Wagner s testimony, not because Wagner failed to establish that she actually had a conversation with Vogel, but because Wagner lacked foundation to testify about the thoughts and beliefs of her floridly psychotic brother during the jailhouse incident. For these reasons, we cannot conclude that the district court abused its discretion in excluding this testimony, in part, because of lack of foundation. Its determination was not illogical, implausible, or without support in inferences that may be drawn from the facts in the record. 26 WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA III. EXCLUDING REFERENCES TO PINK UNDERWEAR The Estate failed to specifically and distinctly argue in its opening brief that the district court erred in excluding evidence related to pink underwear. Therefore, we should consider such an argument waived, and we should not address it. See Kim v. Kang, 154 F.3d 996, 1000 (9th Cir. 1998). While the Estate mentions the issue in its statement of issues and summary of the argument sections of its opening brief, the Estate fails to discuss and argue the point in the body of the arguments section in the opening brief. Such a deficiency waives the issue. See Martinez-Serrano v. I.N.S., 94 F.3d 1256, 1259 (9th Cir. 1996) ( [A]n issue referred to in the appellant s statement of the case but not discussed in the body of the opening brief is deemed waived. ). I fail to understand why the majority addresses the issue. The sheriff s use of pink underwear is a policy consideration, with which we may disagree but should not review, especially when the issue is not properly before us. Sadly however, the majority s consideration of the issue is consistent with its failure to apply the appropriate standard of review (i.e., abuse of discretion) to the evidentiary issues discussed in other sections of this dissent. IV. CLOSING ARGUMENT Lastly, the majority hastily concluded that the district court abused its discretion by denying the Estate a rebuttal WAGNER V . COUNTY OF MARICOPA 27 closing argument at trial. However, the majority never explains what law gives a plaintiff in the District of Arizona an inalienable right to rebuttal argument, much less how the district court abused its discretion in shaping closing arguments under District of Arizona Local Rule 39.1(d). Rule 39.1(d) guarantees a right to close to the party bearing the burden of proof, but that rule has never been defined to provide the right to speak last. The district court permitted the Estate to make a thorough, 60-minute closing argument. Following a short recess, the court explained to counsel that [t]he closing is going to end with [the County]. There isn t going to be any rebuttal. I just did a little research, it s discretionary. [The Estate] had a thorough, complete effort at it, and [the County] is entitled to that as well. But we re not going to have a rebuttal. The court also noted, I don t think there was anything that [the Estate] could have touched on that [the Estate] didn t explore, several times. It is well established that a trial court has broad discretion in controlling closing arguments. United States v. Spillone, 879 F.2d 514, 518 (9th Cir. 1989); accord Fernandez v. Corporacion Insula De Seguros, 79 F.3d 207, 209 10 (1st Cir. 1996) ( The decision to permit rebuttal [in a civil action] is a procedural matter which rests within the sound discretion of the trial judge and rarely (if ever) provides fertile ground for appeal. (internal citation omitted)). Because the Estate closed with a 60-minute argument pursuant to Rule 39.1(d), the district court did not abuse its broad discretion in denying the Estate a rebuttal closing argument. I would therefore affirm.
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