Keiko Larez, and v. William Holcomb, and Cross-Appellee

16 F.3d 1513, 94 Daily Journal DAR 2218, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1265, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 2995
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 22, 1994
Docket91-55822, 91-56145, 91-56283 and 91-56284
StatusPublished
Cited by95 cases

This text of 16 F.3d 1513 (Keiko Larez, and v. William Holcomb, and Cross-Appellee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keiko Larez, and v. William Holcomb, and Cross-Appellee, 16 F.3d 1513, 94 Daily Journal DAR 2218, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1265, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 2995 (9th Cir. 1994).

Opinions

D.W. NELSON, Circuit Judge:

Los Angeles Police Department Detective William Holcomb appeals the judgment on a jury verdict in favor of Keiko Larez in La-rez’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action. Larez’s civil rights complaint alleged that Detective Holcomb stopped her, arrested her, and then detained her for several hours at a police station for questioning without probable cause, in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. Holcomb asserts that the district court committed reversible error in its jury instructions. Larez cross-appeals the court’s order that denied her motion to impose sanctions on Holcomb’s counsel. Both Larez and Holcomb appeal the district court order awarding attorneys’ fees. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.1 We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for a new trial on the issue of damages and for a recalculation of the attorneys’ fee following the outcome of the trial on damages.

I. BACKGROUND

On June 8, 1986, Detective William Holcomb began investigating a fatal, gang-related shooting that occurred in East Los Ange-les. Officers at the Hollenbeck Station of the Los Angeles Police Department informed Holcomb that an eyewitness had provided information regarding the possible identity and location of the suspected gunman. The suspect was identified as Eddie Larez, who lived at 3514 Amethyst Street.

Holcomb dispatched undercover officers to observe the activities at and around Mr. La-rez’s home. Within an hour and a half, the officers observed a man, later identified as Richard Jimenez, who fit the description of the suspect. Jimenez was observed as he left the Larez residence with an unknown woman, later identified as Keiko Larez. Officer Martinez radioed this information to Holcomb at the Hollenbeck Station. Holcomb directed the officers to detain both individuals until he arrived at the location.

Following Holcomb’s instructions, the officers stopped Keiko Larez (hereinafter “La-rez”) and Jimenez as the two walked away fi*om the Larez residence. Larez and Holcomb gave very different accounts of the events that followed.

Larez testified that the officers, with guns drawn and pointed at her and Jimenez, instructed them to place their hands on their heads and turn around, and then handcuffed them. Larez said she did not resist, but asked the officers for an explanation. The officers conducted a pat-down search of both Larez and Jimenez, and informed the two that they were .conducting a murder investigation in which Eddie Larez was a suspect. Larez claimed that she and Jimenez were put [1516]*1516in the back of an unmarked police car and driven around the corner. Roughly ten minutes later, she says, a number of other officers arrived at the scene, including Holcomb, and one of the officers took Larez out of the unmarked car so that Holcomb could speak with her. Larez claimed that she remained handcuffed, did not respond to any of Holcomb’s questions, and, after several minutes, was put back into the car, and taken to the Hollenbeck Station.

Larez testified that she was led, still handcuffed, through the back door of the Hollen-beck Station into a small holding cell, and that the cell door was closed and locked behind her. The handcuffs, she claimed, prevented her from finding a comfortable position in which to sit or lie down in the cell. Although a number of officers observed La-rez through the window in the cell’s door, Larez stated that no one responded to her requests that the handcuffs be removed. She testified that she remained in the cell alone for about two hours before Holcomb came in to speak with her.

After Holcomb questioned her for about twenty minutes regarding the murder, her knowledge of the existence of weapons in her family’s house, and the whereabouts of her brother, Eddie, Holcomb drove Larez home at her request. Larez claimed that at no time was she told that she was under arrest or that she was a suspect in the investigation. She testified, however, that she believed she was under arrest.

Holcomb told the jury a very different story. Holcomb conceded that Larez was detained when she left her residence with Jimenez, but claims that there was reasonable suspicion upon which to base the detention. He argued that after the initial brief questioning, Larez was no longer being detained and was at all times free to leave. Holcomb further contended that Larez was cooperative and forthcoming from the start and agreed to being taken to the police station so that she could speak with Holcomb out of earshot of her family. Holcomb claimed that Larez never was handcuffed and that, although she was placed in the jail cell temporarily, the door was never locked. He said that she was given a seat in a cell rather than in the lobby because the murder was gang related and he wanted to protect her from being recognized. Holcomb did not argue that he had probable cause to arrest Larez; he argued that she was never under arrest.

Larez filed suit against Holcomb under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that she had been seized in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. After trial, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Larez, awarding her $5,000 in compensatory and $50,000 in punitive damages.

Larez then moved for an award of attorneys’ fees. The court granted the motion but awarded less than the requested amount. Larez also moved to impose Rule 11 sanctions on defense counsel because of assertions made in “Defendant’s Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees and a Multiplier.” The court denied the motion.

Holcomb appeals the judgment on the jury verdict. He claims that the district court committed reversible error by instructing the jury that he had the burden of demonstrating that Larez voluntarily consented to the detention, and by instructing the jury that the City of Los Angeles would indemnify him for any compensatory damages assessed against him. Holcomb also contends that the district court judgment should be reversed because the court allowed Larez’s counsel to inform the jury during closing argument that the City was authorized to indemnify Holcomb for punitive damages. Larez appeals the order denying her motion to impose Rule 11 sanctions on counsel for Holcomb, and claims that she is entitled to attorneys’ fees for this appeal. Both Holcomb and Larez appeal the district court’s attorneys’ fee order.

II. ANALYSIS

A Voluntary Consent

Holcomb contends that the district court committed reversible error in instructing the jury on the issue of voluntary consent. We review jury instructions for abuse of discretion and recognize that the district court has substantial latitude in tailoring them. Thorsted v. Kelly, 858 F.2d 571, 573 (9th Cir.1988). Moreover, “an error in in-[1517]*1517struetiiig the jury in a civil ease does not require reversal if it is more probably than not harmless.” Benigni v. Hemet, 879 F.2d 473, 479 (9th Cir.1988).

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16 F.3d 1513, 94 Daily Journal DAR 2218, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1265, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 2995, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keiko-larez-and-v-william-holcomb-and-cross-appellee-ca9-1994.