Green v. Francis

• Decision Date: 22 April 1983
• Docket Number: No. 81-5870,81-5870
• Citation: 705 F.2d 846
• Parties: Calvin Coolidge GREEN and wife, Eula Green, and Willie Frank Green, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. David L. FRANCIS, Harold Smith, Thomas Upchurch, Thomas C. Matthews, John T. Underwood and Herbert Cunningham, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 846

705 F.2d 846

Calvin Coolidge GREEN and wife, Eula Green, and Willie Frank Green, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. David L. FRANCIS, Harold Smith, Thomas Upchurch, Thomas C Matthews, John T. Underwood and Herbert Cunningham, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 81-5870.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued Feb. 1, 1983.

Decided April 22, 1983.

Rondal T. Wilson, William S. Russell (argued), Russell & Russell, Shelbyville, Tenn., for defendants-appellants.

Avon N. Williams (argued), Nashville, Tenn., for plaintiffs-appellees.

Before KRUPANSKY, Circuit Judge, PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge, and HILLMAN, District Judge. ^*

PER CURIAM.

Defendants David L. Francis, Harold Smith, Thomas Upchurch, Thomas C. Matthews, John T. Underwood, and Herbert Cunningham appeal from the decision of the district court overruling their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (j.n.o.v.) or alternatively for a new trial, in this civil rights action involving claims brought against them under the fourth and fourteenth amendments and 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1988. They present two principal contentions on appeal: (1) that the district court erred in denying their motion for a j.n.o.v. or a new trial because there was insufficient evidence upon which to submit the case to the jury, or to support the verdict of the jury; and (2) that the district court erred in denying their motion for a new trial because the jury verdict determining damages was so excessive as to show caprice and prejudice on the part of the jury. We hold that these contentions are without merit and affirm the decision of the district court, except for one small modification hereafter noted.

This civil rights action arose out of shocking incidents that occurred during September 1977, in a rural community of Bedford County, Tennessee. At that time, plaintiffs Calvin and Mrs. Eula Green, an elderly black couple, were involved in some very emotional litigation over a boundary line dispute with their white neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Francis. On September 8, 1977, during a recess in the boundary dispute trial in the Chancery Court of Bedford County, Mr. and Mrs. Green found a Ku Klux Klan sticker on their mailbox stating, "The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are watching you." Subsequently, on the evenings of September 20 and 21, sporadic gunfire was heard coming from the direction of the Francis' residence. On the evening of September 22 and through the early morning hours of September 23, the Greens' home was riddled by a heavily damaging and dangerous barrage of gunfire from several different types of lethal weapons. Their son, plaintiff Willie Frank Green, was chased and fired upon in his automobile by a group of people in a van while he was trying to obtain help for his parents. Several pleas for assistance were made by Mr. and Mrs. Green to the Bedford County Sheriff's Department, but very little was done by the sheriff and his two deputies to aid the Greens, or to investigate the incidents. Ultimately, Calvin and Mrs. Eula Green were driven from their home where they had resided for 30 years and have not since returned. Reference is made to the published opinion of District Judge Charles G. Neese for additional pertinent facts. 541 F.Supp. 863, 865-67 (E.D.Tenn.1981).

As a result of these events, plaintiffs Calvin Coolidge Green, Mrs. Eula Green and Willie Frank Green brought this action in the district court seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, declaratory relief and injunctive relief for violations of their civil rights by the defendants acting individually and in conspiracy with each other. The original action was brought against the named defendants-appellants as well as against defendant David Williams, the Bedford County Sheriff; two of Williams' deputies; Mrs. Wilma Francis; Horace Thomas Garrett; and some other private individuals. In addition, the following defendants were included in the complaint because of their control over, or association with, the Bedford County Sheriff's Department: Bedford County, Tennessee, and its governing body; Dorothy Orr, County Executive of Bedford County; and the United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company. The Greens specifically claimed that the non-official defendants were responsible for the acts of terrorism, which obviously violated the civil rights of plaintiffs; that these defendants conspired among themselves to commit the acts in question; and that the sheriff and his two deputies violated their civil rights by failing to render assistance to them, and in failing to investigate the incidents. As previously mentioned, the claims were brought under the fourth and fourteenth amendments and 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1988.

Following the plaintiffs' case in chief, a verdict was directed in favor of Bedford County and its governing body, County Executive Dorothy Orr, Mrs. Wilma Francis and Horace Thomas Garrett. The motion for a directed verdict was denied as to the remaining defendants. The jury subsequently returned a verdict in favor of some of the individual non-official defendants, but against all the named defendants-appellants, the sheriff and his deputies. Compensatory damages were awarded by the jury in the amount of three thousand dollars ($3,000) to Willie Frank Green; thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) to Calvin Coolidge Green; and thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) to Mrs. Eula Green. In addition, the district court granted to plaintiffs declaratory and injunctive relief, and also determined that they were entitled to an award of attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988 in the amount of $37,158.75, along with reimbursable expenses in the approximate amount of $3,000. The sheriff and his deputies did not appeal from the judgment of the district court.

With respect to the first contention of appellants, the applicable standards for determining whether to grant a j.n.o.v. or a new trial were set forth clearly in the opinion of District Judge Neese:

" * * * When reasonable minds can reach different conclusions, the issue[s] of fact must be submitted to the jury. * * * " Chandler v. Edgar W. Long, Inc., C.A. 6th (1980), 623 F.2d 1139, 1142. Once the jury resolves these issues: " * * * Judgment notwithstanding the verdict is not proper unless the evidence is such that there can be but one reasonable conclusion as to the proper verdict. It should not be granted if there is a conflict in the evidence, and credibility of [the] evidence is not to be considered in passing on a motion for judgment. * * * " Reeves v. Power Tools, Inc., C.A. 6th (1973), 474 F.2d 375, 380.

Simply stated, the issue presented by a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict is whether there was sufficient evidence to raise a question for the jury. Warkentien v. Vondracek, C.A. 6th (1980), 633 F.2d 1, 6. " * * * Where a conflict in the evidence has been resolved by the jury's verdict, and there is an evidentiary basis for that verdict, it would be error for the Court to reevaluate the conflicting evidence and mandate a result opposite from that reached by the jury by granting a new trial. * * * " Independent Const. Co. v. Mathis, D.C.Tenn. (1978), 79 F.R.D. 18, 20, citing Basham v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company (1963), 372 U.S. 699, 700-701, 83 S.Ct. 965, 966-977, 10 L.Ed.2d 80. 541 F.Supp. at 871.

A summary of the evidence presented in support of the plaintiffs' claims reveals that the gunfire in question came from the direction of the Francis' home, and that the appellants admitted to being present at this residence on some of the nights when the shootings took place. Shotgun shells, rifle cartridges and a gallon...