Sanders-El v. Wencewicz
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
987 F.2d 483 (8th Cir. 1993)
After being arrested and fleeing custody, Sorkis Sanders-El (plaintiff) sustained facial and eye injuries while officers (defendants) recaptured him, and he sued under § 1983 for excessive force. His first trial ended in a hung jury; at the second trial, defense counsel, during cross-examination about Sanders-El's prior arrest record, theatrically dropped a sheaf of papers in a way that implied he had many prior convictions, and the jury was never instructed to disregard the inference. The jury found for the officers, and Sanders-El appealed, citing this and other conduct as prejudicial error.
Whether errors having a significantly prejudicial effect on the jury require granting the parties a new trial.