Mendoza v. City of Rome

Citation872 F. Supp. 1110
Decision Date21 December 1994
Docket NumberNo. 92-CV-436.,92-CV-436.
PartiesJoseph M. MENDOZA, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF ROME, NEW YORK; James Boyer, Donald Early, and Terry Gowett, as Police Officers of the City of Rome Police Department; and Other Unknown Police Officers of the City of Rome, Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Office of Kenneth P. Ray, Utica, NY (Charles W. Wason, John Maya, of counsel), for plaintiff.

Office of Corp. Counsel, Rome, NY (Diane M. Martin, Gregory Amoroso, of counsel), for defendants.

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

HURD, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. Introduction.

The above entitled action was tried in Utica, New York, between September 6, and September 12, 1994. At the conclusion of the plaintiff's case, the complaint was dismissed as a matter of law as against the defendants James Boyer ("Boyer") and Terry Gowett ("Gowett"). The deliberate indifference to medical needs and illegal search claims against all defendants were also dismissed. The federal claims against the defendant Donald Early ("Early") for false arrest and use of excessive force, and the claim against the defendant City of Rome, for a pattern, policy, or practice, of failing to supervise and train its officers were submitted to the jury. The pendent state law claims for false arrest and assault against both remaining defendants were also submitted.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff on all claims. The jury awarded compensatory damages to the plaintiff in the sum of $200,000.00. The jury also returned a verdict against Early on punitive damages, and awarded plaintiff the sum of $17,543.00. On September 13, 1994, judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiff against both defendants jointly and severally in the sum of $200,000.00 in compensatory damages, and an additional sum of $17,543.00 against Early in punitive damages.

A. Motions.

The defendants have moved for an order pursuant to Rule 50(b) setting aside the verdicts and the judgment entered thereon, and directing that judgment be entered in favor of the defendants as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 50(b). In the alternative, defendants also moved for an order pursuant to Rule 59(b), granting defendants a new trial on the grounds that the jury's verdict was against the weight of the evidence.

In addition, defendants moved for a remittitur on the grounds that the compensatory damages awarded by the jury were excessive. Early did not move with regard to the amount of punitive damages.1 However, he did move to dismiss the punitive damages verdict against him on the grounds that he was not named in his individual capacity as a defendant in the caption of the action or in the complaint, but only in his official capacity as a police officer. Plaintiff opposed all of the above motions, and renewed his motion to amend the pleadings to conform to the proof pursuant to Rule 15(b). Oral argument was held on October 13, 1994. The court reserved decision.

Thereafter, the defendants made an additional motion. This motion was pursuant to Rule 60(b)(2), (3), and (6), to set aside the verdict and the judgment entered therein, and granting defendants a new trial on the grounds of newly discovered evidence, a fraud committed upon the court, and in the interest of justice. Plaintiff also opposed this motion. The matter was submitted to the court on November 10, 1994, without oral argument. This decision will address all motions.

B. Trial.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff as the court must in such motions, McGuigan v. CAE Link Corp., 851 F.Supp. 511, 513 (N.D.N.Y.1994) (citing Samuels v. Air Transport Local 504, 992 F.2d 12, 14 (2d Cir.1993)), the following are the trial facts.

During the evening of Friday, April 29, 1991, plaintiff Joseph Mendoza (age 20 at the time), went to his friend Kevin Williamson's ("Williamson") home at 311 Ridge Street in Rome, New York. A short time later, there was a phone call to the home saying that Williamson was involved in a fight at Hooters, a bar on South George Street, located a few blocks from the Williamson home. The plaintiff left with a group of young men (including two of Williamson's brothers) and walked to Hooters. Upon arriving at Hooters, they observed Williamson in a fight in the middle of South George Street. Plaintiff assisted in breaking up the fight and started to walk away when Williamson got into another fight with another individual. After an unsuccessful attempt to break up the second fight, the plaintiff and the group walked back to 311 Ridge Street and he told Williamson's mother what had happened.

Meanwhile, members of the Rome Police Department responded to a report of an attempted larceny and assault at Hooters. After interviewing eyewitnesses at Hooters and learning that Williamson may have been involved in the larceny and fight, Early, Boyer, Gowett, and Sgt. Thomas Tharrett ("Sgt. Tharrett") were dispatched to 311 Ridge Street. They also learned at Hooters that the other suspects were six white teenage youths. Williamson was apprehended and placed in Early's patrol car. At this point, the plaintiff was at 311 Ridge Street and observed Williamson in the back of the patrol car. Plaintiff walked out on the porch with Williamson's mother. He then went out to the sidewalk to inquire why Williamson was in the police vehicle. At that point, plaintiff was briefly questioned and placed under arrest, apparently for assault and larceny2 by Early, a Rome Police Department patrolman, who turned him around and slammed him up against the driver's side of the patrol car, striking his right knee on the rear wheel well. Early then slammed him a second time, again striking his right knee. Early applied handcuffs to the plaintiff with his hands behind his back, and pushed him into the back seat of the police vehicle. This caused the plaintiff to strike his head on the top of the door opening. At this point plaintiff was seated in the back seat of the patrol car on the driver's side, next to Williamson. Rome Police Officer Boyer, who was seated on the front passenger side, read plaintiff his Miranda rights. Plaintiff complained that the handcuffs were too tight and Early laughed.

After about ten minutes, Early, with Boyer in the vehicle, drove plaintiff and Williamson to Hooters. They stopped for about ten to fifteen minutes. A group of people came around the car and identified Williamson as one of the participants in the fight. They also identified a John Clark as a participant, who was in custody in another patrol car. According to the witnesses, plaintiff was not involved in the altercation at Hooters. Thereafter, plaintiff and Williamson were driven to the police station. During the ride, plaintiff complained that the handcuffs were too tight and his knee hurt. Early took plaintiff out of the police vehicle and pushed him into the police station, despite the fact that plaintiff said his right knee was aching and he couldn't keep up. He was taken into a room and one handcuff was removed and attached to a chair. Plaintiff remained at the police station for between one and two hours. Finally his mother came and he was released with no charges ever being placed against him.

Plaintiff's mother took him directly from the police station to the Rome Hospital where he remained for over an hour. At the hospital emergency room, the swelling on his right knee was checked and he had x-rays, but he received no treatment with regard to bruises on his forehead. The above events occurred on Friday night into early Saturday morning. On Monday his regular physician, Dr. Peter A. Freedman in Utica, examined plaintiff but provided no treatment. The following week plaintiff went to Boston for further reconstructive surgery on his right knee, which had been scheduled for some period of time prior to these incidents.

The physical injuries that plaintiff sustained included a bruise to his right knee which caused swelling, red marks on his wrists, headaches which required aspirin or other pain killer for a couple of days, and some bruises and marks on his forehead. His wrists and hands were numb for a couple of days. None of the injuries were of a permanent nature. He did not incur any medical expenses or loss of earnings because of these injuries. The previously scheduled reconstructive surgery noted above proceeded as planned, and the disability he presently has because of the condition of his right knee is not related to the fact that he was slammed against the patrol car by Early on the night in question.

II. Discussion.
A. Rule 50(b) — Judgment As a Matter of Law.

The court may grant a motion for judgment as a matter of law on an issue where "there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for that party on that issue." Fed.R.Civ.P. 50. "The standard for granting a motion for judgment n.o.v. pursuant to 50(b) is whether `the evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovants without considering credibility or weight, reasonably permits only a conclusion in the movants' favor.'" Jund v. Town of Hempstead, 941 F.2d 1271, 1290 (2d Cir.1991) (citations omitted); Samuels v. Air Transport Local 504, 992 F.2d 12, 14 (2d Cir.1993) (judgment n.o.v. standard applies to what the federal rules now refer to as judgment as a matter of law); McGuigan, 851 F.Supp. at 513; Jones v. Lederle Lab., 785 F.Supp. 1123, 1125 (E.D.N.Y.1992), aff'd, 982 F.2d 63 (2d Cir.1992). "Judgment n.o.v. is reserved for those rare occasions when there is `such a complete absence of evidence supporting the verdict that the jury's finding could only have been the result of sheer surmise and conjecture, or the evidence must be so overwhelming that reasonable and fair minded persons could only have reached the opposite result.'" Sorlucco v. New York City Police Dep't, 971 F.2d 864, 871 (2d Cir.1992) (citations omitted).

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