Burgos-Yantin v. Municipality of Juana Diaz

736 F. Supp. 2d 462, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94719, 2010 WL 3541106
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedSeptember 10, 2010
DocketCivil No. 07-1146 (JA)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 736 F. Supp. 2d 462 (Burgos-Yantin v. Municipality of Juana Diaz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burgos-Yantin v. Municipality of Juana Diaz, 736 F. Supp. 2d 462, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94719, 2010 WL 3541106 (prd 2010).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JUSTO ARENAS, United States Chief Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the court on motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b)(1)(C) filed by the co-defendants, Miguel Torres-Santiago and Gary Conde-González, on July 29, 2010. (Docket No. 310.) The co-defendants’ motion was opposed by plaintiff, Carmen Burgos-Yantin, on August 12, 2010. (Docket No. 311.) The co-defendants replied on August 26, 2010. (Docket No. 318.) For the reasons set forth below, the co-defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law is hereby DENIED.

I. OVERVIEW

This is a case brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Civil Rights Act of 1971, and includes supplement claims under Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, 31 L.P.R.A. § 5141. (Docket Nos. 1 & 84.) Plaintiffs alleged that the civil rights of [463]*463Miguel Angel Burgos were violated by officers from the Police of Puerto Rico and the Municipality of Juana Diaz when they used or allowed the use of excessive force leading to his shooting and death. (Id.) A negligence claim was also included in the complaint. (Id.)

The case was tried by a jury in June of 2010, and on the ninth day of trial and second day of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict dismissing the Civil Rights Act claims but rendering a verdict in favor of one of the nine plaintiffs, Carmen Burgos-Yantin, on the supplemental negligence claims. (Docket Nos. 281 & 300.) The jury awarded damages against officer Miguel Torres-Santiago in the amount of $25,000 and against officer Gary Conde-González in the amount of $5,000. (Docket No. 301.) The jury rendered a judgment in favor of the third defendant, Lt. Angel Colón-González. (Docket No. 306.) On July 29, 2010, the two remaining defendants moved for judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50. (Docket No. 310.) Plaintiff opposed the motion on August 12, 2010. (Docket No. 311.) On August 26, 2010, the co-defendants filed a reply to plaintiffs opposition to their motion for judgment as a matter of law. (Docket No. 318.)

The co-defendants, officers Miguel Torres-Santiago and Gary Conde-González, note that ultimately the verdict rendered by the jury was in favor of Carmen Bur-gos-Yantin for her pain and suffering. (Docket No. 310, at 5.) However, they argue that the verdict cannot stand because the jury did not find any liability against them for the death of Miguel Angel Bur-gos. (Id.) Thus, there is a lack of causation between the actions or omissions of the co-defendants and damages suffered by the recovering plaintiff. (Id.) The co-defendants stress that they were “acquitted” by the jury of having violated the decedent’s constitutional rights. (Id.) They further argue that they were “acquitted” of the civil rights violation claim, which claims gave subject-matter jurisdiction to the court. (Id.) Such claims were the ones upon which plaintiffs pinned their hopes to prevail since the allegation was that Miguel Angel Burgos died as the result of the use of unreasonable excessive force under the Fourth Amendment. (Id.)

Officers Miguel Torres-Santiago and Gary Conde-González argue that the state tort claim is contingent upon the civil rights allegations since the same facts giving rise to the civil rights action also give rise to the state tort action. (Id.) They argue that the claims of Carmen Burgos-Yantin are contingent upon a finding of liability against them for the death of Miguel Angel Burgos. (Id. at 6.) They stress that there is no independent set of facts that would support a theory of liability against them for the mental anguish of Carmen Burgos-Yantin. (Id.) The co-defendants compare the elements of a civil rights action and a state negligence action, and emphasize that it was not shown that they were negligent, nor that they breached their duty of care as to Miguel Angel Burgos, more so since it was not proven that their acts or omissions were the proximate cause of his death. (Id. at 7.) They also argue that like in Acevedo-Feliciano v. Ruiz-Hernandez, 296 F.Supp.2d 142 (D.P.R.2003) the jury verdict cannot be sustained because plaintiffs tort claim under Art. 1802 is based on the same conduct that gave rise to the § 1983 claim that was dismissed. (Id.)

Plaintiff opposes the motion for judgment as a matter of law stressing that there are different standards for a civil rights violation and a negligence action, that a violation of civil rights entails more than mere negligence. (Docket No. 311, at 1.) She argues that the finding of the [464]*464jury that there was no constitutional violation does not preclude the finding that the co-defendants Miguel Torres-Santiago and Gary Conde-González were negligent. (Id.) Plaintiff notes that the verdict form for the state law negligence claims was “different” as it only asked two questions, (1) if the negligence of the co-defendants caused damages, and (2) the amount of damages. (Id. at 2.) Instead of being asked three questions as to the civil rights claims, the jury was only asked two questions, but one was really two in one. (Id.) Thus the jury was forced to answer two questions in one. (Id.) Plaintiff claims that for the jury to answer yes to the first question, it arguably had to answer yes to both propositions, that is, that the co-defendants were negligent, and that their negligence caused damages. (Id.) Thus, according to plaintiff the verdict reflects that officers Miguel Torres-Santiago and Gary Conde-González were negligent and that even though Miguel Angel Burgos suffered no damages, she did. (Id.) Plaintiff argues that this conclusion is supported by the evidence at trial. (Id.) Specifically, plaintiff claims that the pathologist testified that Miguel Angel Burgos became unconscious immediately upon being shot. (Id.) She also claims that the negligence verdict is arguably supported by the testimony of Lou Reiter, the police procedures expert, who testified that the intervention with the target vehicle, including shooting at it, was not within standards since the shooting placed in danger the occupants of the vehicle as well as nearby people. (Id.); See Burgos-Yantin v. Diaz, 709 F.Supp.2d 115 (D.P.R.2010). Plaintiff argues that officer Gary Conde-González could have stopped officer Miguel Torres-Santiago from shooting at any time after any of the more than 10 shots fired from a weapon which was not an automatic. (Docket No. 311, at 2.) Plaintiff also argues that the deposition testimony of Osvaldo Medina-Echevarria further supports the negligence verdict. (Id. at 3.) After distinguishing the facts of Acevedo-Feliciano v. Ruiz-Hernandez, cited by the defendants, from those in this case, plaintiff asks for an alternative relief in the event that I find that the verdict form confused the jury, that is, that a new trial be held. (Docket No. 311, at 3.)

Finally, in their reply memorandum the co-defendants argue that plaintiffs memorandum contains fairly undeveloped arguments in relation to the survival of the negligence cause of action, to the causation of the death of Burgos, and the confusion of the jury as a result of the verdict form. (Docket No. 318.)

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Related

Burgos-Yantín v. Municipality of Juana Díaz
751 F. Supp. 2d 345 (D. Puerto Rico, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
736 F. Supp. 2d 462, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94719, 2010 WL 3541106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burgos-yantin-v-municipality-of-juana-diaz-prd-2010.