Judge Nagala Allows Evidence of Morant's Pardons and Sweeney's Brady Violation in Wrongful Conviction Trial

Morant, who was released from prison in 2015 after spending twenty-one years incarcerated for a double homicide he did not commit, and was granted a full pardon in 2021, is suing the City and five New Haven Police Department officers for his wrongful conviction. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on April 28, 2026.

Judge Nagala granted Morant’s motion to exclude most evidence of his prior criminal convictions, arrests, and general drug or alcohol use. The court precluded such evidence except for his alleged consumption of alcohol on January 16, 1991, and his alleged use of marijuana on that same day.

The judge also ordered that a homophobic slur used in interrogation transcripts be redacted or replaced with asterisks. The City had argued the term was relevant to investigative theories, but conceded at a pretrial conference that references should be sanitized.

Morant’s motion to collaterally estop Defendant Michael Sweeney from contesting a prior judgment in Ham v. Greene was granted, subject to a limiting instruction. The court will instruct the jury that they cannot infer Sweeney violated Morant’s rights simply because he violated Ham’s.

The court denied the City’s motion to preclude evidence of Morant and his co-defendant Scott Lewis’s post-conviction pardons. The judge ruled the evidence is relevant to Morant’s malicious prosecution and Brady claims, as well as damages calculations.

Judge Nagala also denied the City’s attempt to use collateral estoppel to bar Morant from challenging findings in his state criminal trial. Because Morant’s conviction was vacated, the prior judgments carry no preclusive effect.

The court granted Morant’s request to ask leading questions of the individual defendants and current or former NHPD officers. The judge deferred ruling on whether he may ask leading questions of former prosecutor and now-Judge David Gold until trial.

Defendant Vincent Raucci’s motion to exclude testimony from his ex-wife, Donna Desai, was granted in part. The court precluded most of her testimony regarding Raucci’s alleged domestic violence but allowed it to the extent it concerned Defendant Sweeney’s response to her reports.

The court granted Morant’s motion for judicial notice of various convictions, vacaturs, and pardons related to prior lawsuits against NHPD detectives. The jury will be instructed that these facts are conclusive.

The judge also granted Morant’s request for a jury instruction stating Sweeney has been found to have violated Morant’s constitutional rights by withholding exculpatory and impeaching information. The jury must still independently determine causation and damages for that violation.

The court denied the City’s motion to preclude evidence of police conduct and policies that post-date Morant’s 1992 arrest. The judge found such evidence relevant to Morant’s Monell liability claims regarding the City’s failure to supervise and discipline its officers.