Scott v. District of Columbia

• Citation: 322 U.S.App. D.C. 75,101 F.3d 748
• Decision Date: 15 January 1997
• Docket Number: No. 95-7108,95-7108
• Parties: Gerry SCOTT, Appellee, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al., Appellants.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia)

Page 748

101 F.3d 748

322 U.S.App.D.C. 75

Gerry SCOTT, Appellee, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al., Appellants.

No. 95-7108.

United States Court of Appeals,

District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Oct. 16, 1996.

Decided Dec. 6, 1996.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 15, 1997.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 92cv01601).

James C. McKay, Jr., Assistant Corporation Counsel, argued the cause for appellants, with whom Charles F. Ruff, Corporation Counsel, Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corporation Counsel, and James A. DeVita, Trial Assistant, Washington, DC, were on the briefs. Edward E. Schwab, Assistant Corporation Counsel, Washington, DC, entered an appearance.

Joan A. Harvill argued the cause and filed the brief for appellee.

Before: SILBERMAN, RANDOLPH and ROGERS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge ROGERS.

ROGERS, Circuit Judge:

This is an appeal by the District of Columbia and various members of the Metropolitan Police Department ("MPD") from the denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law, ¹ or in the alternative for a new trial or remittitur, after a jury awarded Gerry Scott compensatory and punitive damages as a result of his encounter with the police on July 9, 1991. Early that morning, a car driven by Scott, then an off-duty member of the MPD, crashed into four parked cars at an intersection on New Hampshire Avenue in Northwest Washington. Scott was subsequently arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol ("DUI"). The DUI charge was ultimately dismissed after a police officer failed to appear for a court hearing, and Scott sued the District of Columbia and several MPD officers, alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, use of excessive force to effect an arrest, assault and battery, and negligence. A jury found for Scott on the false arrest, excessive force, abuse of process, and negligence claims, and awarded $200,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages.

The District and the officers (collectively "the District") contend that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict on Scott's claims. We agree, and therefore reverse the denial of the District's motion for judgment as a matter of law and remand with instructions to enter judgment for the District. ²

I.

Viewed in the light most favorable to Scott, see Mackey v. United States, 8 F.3d 826, 829 (D.C.Cir.1993), the evidence at trial showed that at approximately 2:15 a.m. on July 9, 1991, a car driven by Scott hit four unoccupied parked cars at the corner of New Hampshire Avenue and Otis Place. Several police officers responded to the scene; the first to arrive was Officer Mojica. Scott's behavior at the scene of the accident was erratic and belligerent. He acknowledged at trial that he cursed at Officer Mojica, and two people living in the area who observed the accident testified that Scott appeared to be intoxicated. Scott testified that he was not drunk, however, and that his behavior was due to disorientation and confusion as a result of a head injury suffered in the accident. He maintained that the accident occurred when he burned his hand on a piece of fried chicken that he was eating, and lost control of the car. While he acknowledged that he had been drinking several hours prior to the accident, he claimed that the effects of the alcohol had worn off by the time he began driving, at around midnight. He also offered the testimony of a toxicology expert Dr. Leo Goldbaum, who stated that the effects of the alcohol would have worn off, at the latest, by 2 a.m.

Within an hour after the accident, two police lieutenants and two sergeants arrived on the scene. A lieutenant directed Sergeants Francis and Hernandez to take Scott to the MPD's Traffic Division. The sergeants, who were in uniform, did not put Scott in a secure vehicle normally used to transport prisoners that has a cage or a plexiglass screen between the front seats and the rear passenger seats, and rear passenger doors that cannot be opened from the inside. Instead, they placed him in a regular police cruiser. The sergeants also did not handcuff Scott, search him, give him Miranda ³ warnings, or advise him that he was under arrest.

While on route to the Traffic Division, Scott became disoriented. He testified that he passed out, and that when he awakened, he did not realize where he was or who the officers were. At the corner of Ninth and T Streets, he attempted to exit the cruiser. Sergeant Hernandez, who was sitting to Scott's right in the back seat of the car grabbed him by the back of his pants to prevent him from escaping. Several police officers arrived on the scene, and Scott told Hernandez that he would get back in the car. Hernandez refused to let him back into the car, and several officers forced Scott to the ground and handcuffed him. At that point, the officers took Scott to the Traffic Division in a secure transport vehicle. Subsequently, at around 5 a.m., he was taken to the hospital, where he was examined, given a muscle relaxant, and referred to a neurologist.

After the accident, Scott was charged with DUI, in violation of D.C.Code § 40-716. The charge was dismissed with prejudice when Officer Mojica failed to appear for a court hearing. The MPD placed Scott on administrative leave. Nearly seven months after the accident, on January 31, 1992, Scott went to see the neurologist, Dr. William Lightfoote. Dr. Lightfoote examined Scott and reviewed the hospital records from the night of the accident, and concluded that he had suffered a vertebral concussion and a cervical disk herniation as a result of the accident.

Approximately one year after the accident, Scott filed this lawsuit, alleging constitutional false arrest and excessive force claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as common law claims for assault and battery, false arrest, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and negligence. The district court conducted the trial in two phases. In the first phase, the jury found the individual police officers liable for false arrest, excessive force, abuse of process, and negligence, and awarded compensatory and punitive damages. It found for the officers on the assault and battery and malicious prosecution counts. In the second phase, the jury found the District liable for compensatory damages on the constitutional claims. ⁴ Because the District had previously stipulated that the officers were acting within the scope of their employment, the district court entered a judgment holding the District and the officers jointly and severally liable for all compensatory damages, and holding the officers individually liable for punitive damages. The district court denied the District's motion for judgment as a matter of law, or in the alternative, for a new trial or remittitur, and this appeal followed.

II.

We review de novo the district court's denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law. Ferguson v. F.R. Winkler GMBH & Co., 79 F.3d 1221, 1224 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 360, 136 L.Ed.2d 252 (1996); McFarlane v. Caterpillar, Inc., 974 F.2d 176, 178 (D.C.Cir.1992). Thus, the issue on appeal is whether there was sufficient evidence upon which the jury could base a verdict in Scott's favor. Id. In making that determination the court views the evidence in the light most favorable to Scott and resolves all conflicts in his favor. Mackey, 8 F.3d at 829. Although the court cannot substitute its view for that of the jury, and can assess neither the credibility nor weight of the evidence, the jury's verdict can only stand if the evidence in support of it is "significantly probative" and "more than merely colorable." Ferguson, 79 F.3d at 1224; see also Siegel v. Mazda Motor Corp. 878 F.2d 435, 437 (D.C.Cir.1989). In other words, the jury's verdict will withstand challenge unless the evidence and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn therefrom are so one-sided that reasonable men and women could not disagree on the verdict. Mackey, 8 F.3d at 829 (citing McNeal v. Hi-Lo Powered Scaffolding, Inc., 836 F.2d 637, 640-41 (D.C.Cir.1988)).

Under Rule 8(e)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Scott could properly plead alternative theories of liability, regardless of whether such theories were consistent with one another. Similarly, Scott could properly argue alternative claims to the jury. See, e.g., Riverwoods Chappaqua Corp. v. Marine Midland Bank, N.A., 30 F.3d 339, 343 (2d Cir.1994). Recovery of damages, however, cannot be based on inconsistent theories when one theory precludes the other or is mutually exclusive. Brookhaven Landscape & Grading Co. v. J.F. Barton Contracting Co., 676 F.2d 516, 523 (11th Cir.1982); Fredonia Broadcasting Corp. v. RCA Corp., 481 F.2d 781, 801 (5th Cir.1973). In support of the judgment Scott maintains on appeal that the police officers did not place him under arrest at the accident scene, and that, consequently, he was free to leave at any time. This position is consistent with his testimony at trial. Scott testified that he did not believe he was under arrest, and that he was simply being transported to the Traffic Division for administrative purposes. Similarly, Scott's expert in police practices, Dr. Alvin Cohn, testified that, in his opinion, Scott was not under arrest because the officers did not handcuff him, search him, place him in a secured vehicle, tell him he was under arrest, or read him Miranda warnings. Furthermore, in closing argument Scott's attorney told the jury that Scott was not under arrest, and that he "had every right in the world to get out of the car and walk away."

Many of the jury's determinations, however, can only rest on a finding that Officer Mojica arrested Scott at the accident scene. For example, the jury found Officer Mojica liable for false arrest. Scott also argued that the officers were negligent in failing to handcuff him or place him...