Carter v. Hewitt
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
617 F.2d 961 (3d Cir. 1980)
Inmate Carter (plaintiff) sued prison officials (defendants) claiming he'd been severely beaten by guards; during a hearing on the defendants' summary judgment motion, they introduced a letter Carter wrote to another inmate calling the situation a set-up and encouraging that inmate to file complaints establishing a false pattern of brutality. Carter was made to read the letter aloud, it was admitted into evidence, the district court ruled for the defendants, and Carter appealed, arguing the letter should have been excluded as unfairly prejudicial under FRE 403.
Whether relevant evidence suggesting a plaintiff fabricated the underlying claim is inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 as unfairly prejudicial.