Rascon v. Hardiman
| Citation | 803 F.2d 269 |
| Decision Date | 26 September 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-1589,85-1589 |
| Parties | , 21 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 823 Elaine RASCON, as legal representative of David Rascon, deceased, Plaintiff- Appellee, v. Phillip T. HARDIMAN, individually and in his official capacity as Executive Director, Cook County Department of Corrections; Howard Pearman, individually and as a corrections officer; Edward Legenza, individually and as a corrections officer; Mark Paczkowski, individually and as a corrections officer; William Stein, individually and as a corrections officer, Defendants- Appellants. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit) |
Karen Dimond, Asst. State's Atty., Chicago, Ill., for defendants-appellants.
Peter Francis Geraci, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before WOOD, CUDAHY and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff Elaine Rascon brought this action on behalf of her deceased husband, David Rascon, under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, alleging that the actions of certain county correctional institution guards in subduing her husband and the policies promulgated and implemented by the Director of Corrections violated his constitutional rights. Trial was held before a jury, which found for the plaintiff and against all defendants. The defendants moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (judgment n.o.v.) or, in the alternative, for a new trial. The motion was granted as to one defendant 1 but denied as to the other defendants, the appellants in this appeal. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.
Plaintiff Elaine Rascon brought this suit on behalf of her deceased husband, David Rascon, under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 for injuries sustained during a beating by corrections officers at the Cook County Correctional Facility. 2 On the recommendation of the district judge, the case was referred to a magistrate for supervision of discovery and conduct of hearings. On April 12, 1983, by consent of the parties, the case was reassigned to the magistrate for trial. The case was tried to a jury on July 13-15, 1983. The parties stipulated that Rascon died of causes unrelated to the incident.
The incident in question took place on March 29, 1980 at the Cook County Correctional Facility where David Rascon was a pretrial detainee. Rascon was held in the facility's Residential Treatment Unit (RTU), a ward designed to house inmates who are believed to have mental problems or who have been unable to fit into the general prison population. On March 29, Rascon became involved in an altercation with two inmates named Teeters and Kimbrough in the kitchen where all three were working. Teeters reported to Sergeant Pearman that he had been attacked by "a Mexican with a blue T-shirt and long hair." Teeters also told Sergeant Pearman that his alleged attacker "went up the stairs." Tr. 441. Sergeant Pearman called upon Officers Paczkowski and Legenza to accompany him to find the inmate involved. At this juncture, the factual picture painted by the plaintiff differs radically from that painted by the defendants.
The plaintiff's version of the incident in question is derived chiefly from the deposition of Melvin Boyd, who was also an inmate at the facility at the time. Mr. Boyd's deposition was offered into evidence because Boyd, who had subsequently been released from the correctional facility, was unavailable to testify at the trial. According to Mr. Boyd's deposition testimony, after the Teeters incident, Mr. Rascon returned to a dormitory room on the first floor adjacent to the kitchen area. The three guards found him there and took him to the stairwell. Boyd followed them. According to Boyd, when they reached the third floor landing, the officers proceeded to beat Rascon severely. Prior to the commencement of the beating, Rascon did not struggle with the officers or offer any resistance either physical or verbal. During the course of the beating, Rascon was kicked between the legs by one of the officers. At that point, he began to scream in pain; the officers stopped the beating when they noticed that Rascon's pants were covered with blood. The officers instructed Rascon to drop his pants so that they could ascertain the source of the blood. However, there was too much blood for the officers to make such a determination. Therefore, they instructed Rascon to shower so that they could examine him better. They also sent Boyd to get a clean change of clothing for Rascon. When Rascon returned from the shower, he had a rag between his legs and he was dripping blood and water on the floor. Thereupon, the officers escorted Rascon to the hospital. Officer Stein, who was seated at a desk at the top of the stairwell, observed the incident but did not interfere.
The defendants offer a markedly different account of the incident. According to their testimony, after the Teeters incident, Rascon returned to his third floor dormitory room. The officers found him there and removed him from the room, which was occupied by some forty to fifty men, for private questioning regarding the Teeters incident. They claim that, when they reached the second floor landing, Rascon refused to proceed and ran back up to the third floor landing with the officers in hot pursuit. According to the defendants, when Rascon reached the third floor, he grabbed a heavy metal chair which he brandished at the officers. The officers claim that Rascon fell to the floor as they took the chair from him and that, in the struggle, the chair caused Rascon's injury. They claim that they noticed a small spot on Rascon's pants and instructed him to drop his pants so that they could investigate. They claim that there was a small amount of blood on Rascon's thigh so they told him to shower so that they could discern the source of the wound. When they realized that Rascon was bleeding from his penis, they took him to the hospital.
The plaintiff also presented the testimony of Dr. Mohammed Tabib, the urologist who examined Rascon at the emergency room of Cook County Hospital on March 29, 1980. He testified that Rascon gave a history of being beaten and kicked in the perineum. Dr. Tabib's diagnosis was urethral trauma with leakage around the urethra. Tr. 368-75. Following treatment, Rascon was returned to the RTU. His hospital bills, which amounted to $9,300, were not paid as of the date of oral argument, although the county claimed to have absorbed this expense. Additional testimony given by Mr. Boyd indicated that corrections officers frequently inflicted beatings on RTU inmates.
At the close of the plaintiff's case, the defendants made a motion for a directed verdict as to defendants Stein, Hardiman (the Executive Director of the Cook County Department of Corrections) and Elrod (the Sheriff of Cook County). This motion was granted as to Hardiman and Elrod but denied as to Stein. Near the close of the defendants' case, the jury was excused for a day while the court and the parties considered jury instructions. At that time, the magistrate also reconsidered her ruling with respect to defendants Hardiman and Elrod and put them back in the case. The defendants' motions for mistrial or for a continuance to prepare a new theory of defense were denied.
At the close of the defendants' case, the motion for a directed verdict as to Stein, Elrod and Hardiman was renewed. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff and assessed the following damages:
Compensatory Punitive
Richard J. Elrod $50,000 $100,000
Phillip T. Hardiman 50,000 100,000
Howard Pearman 40,000 25,000
Mark Paczkowski 40,000 25,000
Edward Legenza 40,000 25,000
William Stein -0- 1,000
On July 27, 1985, the defendants filed a motion for judgment n.o.v., or, in the alternative, for a new trial. On March 8, 1985, the court granted judgment n.o.v. as to defendant Elrod and denied judgment n.o.v. as to all other defendants. This appeal followed.
The issues on this appeal are whether the evidence elicited at trial was sufficient, as a matter of law, to support verdicts against William Stein and Phillip Hardiman; whether admission of Melvin Boyd's deposition testimony was proper; whether evidence relating to David Rascon's mental health was properly excluded; and whether statements made by David Rascon to the health care professionals who treated him at the Cook County Hospital was properly admitted. As a preliminary matter, we note that the standards by which we review denials of motions for judgment n.o.v. or for new trials are quite stringent. The standard of review for the denial of a judgment n.o.v. is a demanding one. This court has stated that, "[t]he motion should be denied where the evidence, along with all inferences to be reasonably drawn therefrom, when viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing such motion, is such that [people] in a fair and impartial exercise of their judgment may reach different conclusions." McKinley v. Trattles, 732 F.2d 1320, 1323-24 (7th Cir.1984) (quoting Kolb v. Chrysler Corp., 661 F.2d 1137, 1140 (7th Cir.1981); see Bass by Lewis v. Wallenstein, 769 F.2d 1173, 1182 (7th Cir.1985). The test for granting a new trial is equally stringent--we may reverse such a refusal only upon a finding that the errors at trial were sufficiently substantial to deny the defendants a fair trial. Perry v. Larson, 794 F.2d 279, 285 (7th Cir.1986); see Taliferro v. Augle, 757 F.2d 157, 161 (7th Cir.1985); 9 J. Moore, W. Taggart & J. Wicker, Moore's Federal Practice p 110.08, at 124 (2d ed. 1983). With these standards in mind, we proceed to consider the issues presented to us for review.
Phillip Hardiman is the Executive Director of the Cook County Department of Corrections. In this capacity, Director Hardiman oversees the day-to-day operation of the Cook County Jail...
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