Figueroa v. Mazza

59 F. Supp. 3d 481, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139212, 2014 WL 4853408
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 30, 2014
DocketNo. 11-CV-3160
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 59 F. Supp. 3d 481 (Figueroa v. Mazza) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Figueroa v. Mazza, 59 F. Supp. 3d 481, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139212, 2014 WL 4853408 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM, ORDER & JUDGMENT

JACK B. WEINSTEIN, Senior District Judge:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction.485

II. Facts.486

III. Jury Verdict.487

IV. Law. .487

A. Judgment as a Matter of Law Standard.487

1. Timely Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b) Motion .487

2. “Untimely” Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b) Motion.488

B. False Arrest Standard.488

C. Excessive Force Standard.•.'.489

D. New York State Law Assault Standard.489

E. Failure to Intervene Standard.:.'.489

V. Application of Law to Facts .490

A. False Arrest .'.490

B. Excessive Force and Assault.491

C. Failure to Intervene.•.492

VI.Conclusion .•.492

[485]*485I. Introduction

Rejecting the verdict of a dedicated, intelligent, and assiduous cross section of the community — as this jury was — can only be justified on the strongest grounds. Here, the evidence stands stalwartly against a verdict in plaintiffs favor with respect to all his claims for false arrest, excessive force, and assault.

Plaintiff had an appealing background. He laid claim to a series of advanced degrees, among them in law and theology. He claimed to have lectured widely on theological and moral problems throughout the world. He testified to having earned the esteem of a coterie of wealthy individuals dedicated to philanthropy who, for decades, supported his efforts to disperse funds to persons he deemed “needy.” That such a man was publicly humiliated by an arrest that occurred in his mother’s home, leading to a public view of himself surrounded by more than a dozen police officers, might have offended the jury.

The police testified that plaintiff was cooperative and docile when they arrested him — an attitude inconsistent with the aggressive nature of plaintiff while testifying that he was outraged by the arrest. This incongruity was likely to have led the jury to conclude that the police officers on the stand had not been candid.

An attempt could be made to support the verdict on the ground that the police officers who testified could not be believed — that the evidence they gave in their favor was a tissue of lies against a person they all wanted to punish. But, as Learned Hand warned long ago, “although it is ... true that in strict theory a party having the affirmative might succeed in convincing a jury of the truth of his allegations in spite of the fact that all the witnesses denied them, we think it plain that a verdict would nevertheless have to be directed against him.” Dyer v. MacDougall, 201 F.2d 265, 269 (2d Cir.1952). Despite its logic, disbelief of a positive assertion does not sufficiently prove the opposite. While the court recognizes a general jury antipathy toward police officers in many civil and criminal cases in recent years, defendants’ possible mendacity alone does not sufficiently prove liability. The law does not countenance unsupported verdicts explicable only in the sympathy of the jury for the plaintiff.

In this case, the contemporary artifacts of evidence of crimes by plaintiff were so compelling as to have made a failure to arrest for probable cause almost a dereliction of duty. Plaintiffs admitted physical resistance made appropriate the de minim-is force used to move him from the place of his arrest to a police vehicle. Although the facts and the testimony of eyewitnesses support the finding that plaintiff was repeatedly struck by an unnamed police officer, the defendants he claims failed to intervene could not have interceded to stop the assault.

Charges against plaintiff were eventually dropped. Plaintiff sued. Four claims were tried. Three were pursuant to Section 1983 of Title 42: false arrest, excessive force, and failure to intervene; and one was a New York State law assault claim. Plaintiff alleged that (1) all five defendant police officers, DonnaMarie Mazza, Todd Nagrowski, Christopher Ka-rolkowski, Joseph Failla, and Dennis Chan, falsely arrested him; (2) Karolkowski and Failla assaulted him and used excessive force against him; and (3) Failla and Chan failed to intervene when he was assaulted by an unnamed police officer.

After a five and one half day trial, defendants made a timely motion for a judg[486]*486ment as a matter of law (“JMOL”) with respect to .the false arrest, excessive force, and assault claims. Trial Tr. 681:16-685:21, Sept. 12, 2014. As to false arrest, the court reserved decision; as to excessive force and assault, the court denied the motion. Trial Tr. 682:8-12; 685:6-13. Defendants timely renewed their JMOL motions during jury deliberations and after verdict. Trial Tr. 837:5-10; 848:18-23, Sept. 17, 2014; Trial Tr. 871:20-24, Sept. 18, 2014. They first made a JMOL motion with respect to the failure to intervene claim during, and then after, jury deliberations. Trial Tr. 836:23-841:17, Sept. 17, 2014; Trial Tr. 872:6-874:21, Sept. 18, 2014.

Following three and one half days of deliberating, the jury returned a verdict in plaintiffs favor for false arrest, excessive force, and assault. They were unable to reach a verdict regarding failure to intervene. In total, the jury awarded plaintiff $574,000.

Despite misgivings articulated by the court at various points on the record with respect to the sufficiency of evidence regarding plaintiffs claims, following the dictate of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, “in the interest of judicial efficiency,” the court “refrain[ed] from granting a directed verdict” under Rule 50 and “allow[ed] the matter to be decided, at least in the first instance, by the jury.” Williams v. Cnty. of Westchester, 171 F.3d 98, 102 (2d Cir.1999) (citing cases). This is one of those rare cases in which — drawing all inferences of fact against defendants— the evidence overwhelmingly dictates dismissal. For the reasons stated below, judgment notwithstanding the verdict is granted.

II. Facts

On June 29, 2010, an employee at a Duane Reade store in Brooklyn presented police of the 72nd precinct with a series of photographs of a distressed boy, approximately two years of age, in various stages of undress in what appeared to be the public restroom of a McDonald’s restaurant. Trial Tr. 77:13-86:15, Sept. 8, 2014; Trial Tr. 186:20-24; 217:22-218:4, Sept. 9, 2014. Some of the photographs contained detailed shots of the child’s genitals and anus. Trial Tr. 78:17-19; 82:15-22; 83:1-7; 83:11-17; 83:21-84:3, Sept. 8, 2014. A date-and time-stamped money order and a copy of the June 25, 2010 Daily News appeared in the background of each photograph. Trial Tr. 77:13-86:16.

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Related

Scoma v. City of New York
E.D. New York, 2021
Figueroa v. Mazza
825 F.3d 89 (Second Circuit, 2016)
Cheeks v. City of New York
123 A.D.3d 532 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 F. Supp. 3d 481, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139212, 2014 WL 4853408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/figueroa-v-mazza-nyed-2014.