Lawson v. County of Suffolk

920 F. Supp. 2d 332, 2013 WL 416304, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15209
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 26, 2013
DocketNo. 10-CV-1683 (ADS)(WDW)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 920 F. Supp. 2d 332 (Lawson v. County of Suffolk) 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
Lawson v. County of Suffolk, 920 F. Supp. 2d 332, 2013 WL 416304, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15209 (E.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

The Plaintiff in this case, James Donnell Lawson (“the Plaintiff’), alleged that Suffolk County Police Officers Arturo Salazar (“Salazar”), Officer Raphael Fragola (“Fragola”) and John Graziano (“Graziano,” and collectively, “the Officers”) used excessive force against him. Based on this allegation, the Plaintiff brought this action against the Officers and the County of Suffolk (collectively, “the Defendants”), in which he asserted a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim for excessive force in violation of his rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, as well as claims for (1) assault and battery; (2) negligence; and (3) negligent hiring, training, discipline and retention of employment services. A trial was held and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Defendants. Presently before the Court is the post-trial motion filed by the Plaintiff for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, for a new trial.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

1. The Officers’ Testimony

On January 17, 2009, at approximately 3:00 a.m., the Plaintiff and the Officers were involved in an altercation outside a church hall in Central Islip, New York. The ground on which the altercation took place was “like broken concrete,” was covered in snow and ice and was “slippery.” (Tr. 276, 282.) According to the Officers’ testimony, the Plaintiff, upset that an am[335]*335bulance had not yet arrived to help his injured Mend, Eugene Ramsey (“Ramsey”), stated “this is nonsense, bullshit. You guys aren’t doing anything” and then shoved Salazar in the chest with both hands. (Tr. 273-74.) In response, Salazar threw a punch toward the Plaintiffs head.

Subsequently, a struggle ensued in which Fragola and Graziano also became involved. In this regard, Salazar testified that he grabbed the Plaintiffs left arm with his right hand. Similarly, Fragola testified that after he saw the Plaintiff shove Salazar, he grabbed the Plaintiffs left arm. Finally, Graziano testified that, upon observing the Plaintiff shove Salazar, he “immediately ran over[,] [ ] grabbed [the Plaintiff] by the back of the jacket ... and [ ] ripped him back ... in the backwards motion.” (Tr. 439.) The Officers and the Plaintiff then slipped on the ice. The Officers testified that the Plaintiff fell backward and hit his head on the ground. Fragola testified that he fell to the ground with the Plaintiff. Salazar fell forward on top of the Plaintiff. Graziano fell on his stomach next to the Plaintiff, his face toward the Plaintiff.

Apparently, while still on his back, the Plaintiffs flailed his arms. He then quickly rolled over onto his stomach. The Officers tried to handcuff the Plaintiff, but the Plaintiff allegedly kept moving his arms to prevent the Officers from grabbing them. At this point, Salazar was straddling the Plaintiff, Graziano was laying on top of the Plaintiffs legs and back and Fragola was on the side of the Plaintiff. Graziano “hear[d] the verbal commands of ‘stop resisting1 and ‘put your hands behind your back’ numerous times,” but the Plaintiff did not comply. (Tr. 453.)

The Plaintiff moved his arms underneath him, further frustrating the Officers attempt to handcuff him. As a result, Salazar struck the Plaintiff two to four times in his back torso in order “to make him flinch or available so the other officer would be able to grab his hand for that split second to soften him up so he is not so tense.” (Tr. 279.) In addition, at some point during the struggle, Fragola knelt beside the Plaintiff while he laid face-down to the ground and punched the Plaintiff twice in the face. Fragola punched the Plaintiff so hard that he bruised his knuckle and was instructed not to work for a month to allow the bruise to heal.

Eventually, the Officers were able to get handcuffs on the Plaintiff and he was arrested. The Officers took the Plaintiff to the precinct to be interviewed by the sergeant. However, while at the precinct, Salazar observed a laceration to the back of the Plaintiffs head and bruising on the Plaintiffs cheek area. Salazar transported the Plaintiff to Southside Hospital. At the hospital, the Plaintiff received seven staples for his laceration and was treated for his other bruises and cuts. The Officers denied using any object, including a baton, flashlight or radio, to strike the Plaintiff in the head.

2. The Plaintiffs Testimony and Expert Witnesses

The Plaintiffs testimony tells a different story than that of the Officers. According to the Plaintiff, he approached Salazar to try to get help for Ramsey, who had been the victim of a stabbing. However, when he tapped Salazar on the shoulder, Salazar allegedly turned around and punched him. The Plaintiff stumbled back and Salazar grabbed his jacket and pulled it over the Plaintiffs head. The Plaintiff testified that he “felt more blows to [his] face and a hard object hit [him] in the head.” (Tr. 150.) After he felt the hard object hit him, the Plaintiff “saw white and [ ] hit the ground.” (Tr. 150.) While on the ground, the Plaintiff “felt more blows to [his] head and body and [] was then handcuffed.” [336]*336(Tr. 150.) The Plaintiff denied doing anything to provoke the Officers. The Plaintiffs testimony is consistent with the account he gave hospital personnel on the morning of January 17, 2009, which was included in the Southside Hospital medical records that were admitted into evidence.

The evidence at trial showed that there was no blood on the snow-covered ground where the altercation between the Officers and the Plaintiff took place, nor was there any blood on the collar or outside of either of the two jackets that the Plaintiff was wearing the morning of January 17, 2009. However, there was a large blood stain located on the inside of the Plaintiffs jacket in the lower portion of the back and next to the left shoulder.

With respect to the laceration the Plaintiff suffered, the Plaintiffs expert Dr. Ronald Paynter testified that the “nature of the injury ... [was] consistent with getting hit by ... a stick or a metal rod of some type,” because the injury was “linear* described in the medical record as a straight wound.” (Tr. 82.) Dr. Paynter explained that “if a person were to fall on the ground, backwards, and hit their head on a flat surface like the ground, the laceration would have a different appearance.” (Tr. 82.) This appearance would be a “stellar pattern, which comes from the word ‘star,’ which means when it hits a flat object, it gets dispersed, like three of four arms to it.” (Tr. 82-83.) Dr. Paynter also noted that the medical records indicated that there was no foreign body, such as debris, grit, dirt, grass, pebbles or anything that could be on the ground, in the wound.

The Plaintiffs other expert, Dr. Peter Pizzola, testified that the blood stains inside of the Plaintiffs jacket “were obtained by direct contact by transfer, or some object, such as [the Plaintiffs] wound site, and that would include the area of the lower portion of the jacket and also up by the left shoulder area.” (Tr. 325-26.) Dr. Pizzola stated that he did not see any evidence that the blood stain on the Plaintiffs jacket was produced by the Plaintiff hitting his head while his jacket was in the normal position:

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Bluebook (online)
920 F. Supp. 2d 332, 2013 WL 416304, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawson-v-county-of-suffolk-nyed-2013.