Motion in Limine to Bifurcate Trial and Exclude Evidence of Client’s Prior Conviction During the Initial Phase

This motion argues that, in cases where the government must prove a prior conviction as an element of the offense, the trial should be bifurcated into two phases. In the first phase, the jury should hear evidence about the non-prior-conviction elements. Only if the jury returns a guilty verdict on these elements should the government be allowed to present evidence on the prior-conviction element. The motion relies on social science research demonstrating that (a) juries make propensity-based inferences when they learn about a defendant’s prior conviction; (b) these propensity-based conclusions are stronger in cases involving Black defendants due to implicit biases; and (c) limiting instructions do not effectively stop jurors from engaging in improper propensity-based reasoning. Because the prior conviction has no probative value with respect to the non-prior-conviction elements and bifurcation provides an easy way to remove the danger of unfair prejudice without compromising the prosecution’s need for the evidence on the prior-conviction element, the motion asks the court to join others around the country and split the guilt-phase of the trial into two different segments.