Jo v. JPMC Specialty Mortg., LLC

369 F. Supp. 3d 511
District Court, W.D. New York·Decided March 28, 2019·No. 1:08-CV-00230 EAW·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

ELIZABETH A. WOLFORD, United States District Judge

INTRODUCTION

Mee Jin-Jo, now deceased and represented in this action by her daughter and personal representative Billian Jo ("Plaintiff"),1 commenced this pro se lawsuit on March 18, 2008, alleging that JPMC Specialty Mortgage, LLC ("Defendant") improperly retained control over her property after she was evicted as a no-fault *514tenant from her residence. (Dkt. 1). The Court held a jury trial commencing on June 18, 2018. (Dkt. 365). The jury returned a "no cause of action" verdict on June 21, 2018 (Dkt. 372), and judgment was entered in Defendant's favor the same day (Dkt. 373).

Presently before the Court is Plaintiff's motion for a new trial pursuant to Rule 59 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Dkt. 375). Plaintiff takes issue with a number of evidentiary rulings and other determinations made by the Court throughout trial. (Dkt. 375-2). Defendant opposes Plaintiff's motion (Dkt. 379), and Plaintiff has filed reply papers (Dkt. 380). For the following reasons, Plaintiff's motion is denied.

DISCUSSION

I. Legal Standard

Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(a)(1)(A) provides that a court "may, on motion, grant a new trial on all or some of the issues-and to any party-as follows: ... after a jury trial, for any reason for which a new trial has heretofore been granted in an action at law in federal court." "Essentially, to grant a Rule 59 motion, a district court 'must conclude that the jury has reached a seriously erroneous result or the verdict is a miscarriage of justice, i.e. , it must view the jury's verdict as against the weight of the evidence.' " Greenaway v. County of Nassau , 327 F.Supp.3d 552, 560 (E.D.N.Y. 2018) (quoting Maureen Christensen v. County of Dutchess, N.Y. , 548 F. App'x 651, 653 (2d Cir. 2013) ); see Manley v. AmBase Corp. , 337 F.3d 237, 245 (2d Cir. 2003) (same).

"[E]rroneous evidentiary rulings may furnish a basis for granting a post-verdict motion for a new trial under Rule 59." Dreyer v. Ryder Auto. Carrier Grp., Inc. , No. 98-CV-82A, 2008 WL 754113, at *2 (W.D.N.Y. Mar. 19, 2008) (quoting LNC Invs., Inc. v. First Fidelity Bank , 126 F.Supp.2d 778, 787 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) ). However, "[a] trial court has considerable discretion in determining whether to admit or exclude evidence." Mem'l Drive Consultants, Inc. v. ONY, Inc. , No. 96-CV-0702E(F), 2001 WL 241781, at *6 (W.D.N.Y. Mar. 7, 2001) (citing Barrett v. Orange Cty. Human Rights Comm'n , 194 F.3d 341, 346 (2d Cir. 1999) ), aff'd , 29 F. App'x 56 (2d Cir. 2002) ; see Pace v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp. , 291 F.Supp.2d 93, 97 (D. Conn. 2003) ("Evidentiary rulings are reviewed for an abuse of discretion."). Accordingly, "[a] motion for new trial on the basis of improper evidentiary rulings will be granted only where the improper ruling affects a substantial right of the moving party." Mem'l Drive Consultants, Inc. v. ONY, Inc. , 29 F. App'x 56, 61 (2d Cir. 2002) (citing Malek v. Fed. Ins. Co. , 994 F.2d 49, 55 (2d Cir. 1993) ). "Whether a 'substantial right' has been invaded is dependent on the circumstances of the case, and the proceedings will not be disturbed, on post-trial motion in the district court or on appeal, unless any error of the court was truly harmful." LNC Invs., Inc. , 126 F.Supp.2d at 787 (quoting Wright & Miller, Fed. Prac. & Proc. § 2885 pp. 453-54 (1995) ).

II. Plaintiff Has Failed to Demonstrate that a New Trial is Warranted

Plaintiff does not challenge the jury's resolution of the evidence presented at trial. (Dkt. 380 at 11 ("Plaintiff is not questioning the jury's verdict.") ). In other words, Plaintiff does not challenge the weight the jury gave to the evidence presented at trial. Instead, Plaintiff identifies several issues that she contends prejudiced her ability to present a complete case to the jury.

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Jo v. JPMC Specialty Mortg., LLC, 369 F. Supp. 3d 511 (W.D.N.Y. 2019).

369 F. Supp. 3d 511 (Jo v. JPMC Specialty Mortg., LLC) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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