McCrary-El v. Shaw

Jerry McCrary-El (plaintiff), a prisoner, sued prison guards (defendants) for using excessive force against him, alleging the assault began in his cell doorway and moved further inside, where most of his injuries occurred. A neighboring inmate, Antonio Jones, testified in deposition that a crack in his own cell door let him see part of the incident, but that he lost sight of it once all the guards were fully inside McCrary-El's cell. The district court excluded Jones's deposition testimony at trial, finding Jones lacked personal knowledge of the assault under Federal Rule of Evidence 602, ruled for the defendants, and denied a new trial; McCrary-El appealed.