Nicaj v. City of N.Y.

282 F. Supp. 3d 708
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 6, 2017
Docket14–CV–4215 (JLC)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 282 F. Supp. 3d 708 (Nicaj v. City of N.Y.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nicaj v. City of N.Y., 282 F. Supp. 3d 708 (S.D. Ill. 2017).

Opinion

JAMES L. COTT, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff Altin Nicaj seeks reconsideration of the Court's decision granting judgment as a matter of law as to certain of his claims in favor of defendants Mark Beharry, Christopher Lombardi, Milton Arocho, and the City of New York (together, "Defendants"), and a new trial pursuant to Rules 59 and 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies Nicaj's motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Nicaj brought this action in June 2014 against the City of New York and New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission ("TLC") officers Mark Beharry, Christopher Lombardi, and Milton Arocho in both their individual and official capacities. In his complaint, Nicaj alleged claims of false arrest, excessive force, malicious prosecution, denial of fair trial, and failure to intervene under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and for false arrest, excessive force, malicious prosecution, and conversion under New York state law. Complaint, dated June 10, 2014 ("Compl."), Dkt. No. 2.1 His complaint stemmed from his arrest on September 21, 2013 and subsequent events, including the towing of the car he was driving by the TLC officers. Id. ¶¶ 9-12. Following the close of discovery, the parties consented to my jurisdiction for all purposes. Notice, Consent, and Reference, dated Apr. 12, 2016, Dkt. No. 58.

Trial commenced on January 30, 2017, and after Nicaj had presented his case to *712the jury, Defendants moved for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a). Trial Transcript ("Tr.") at 187-217. Following argument on the motion on both January 31 and February 1, 2017, the Court granted Defendants' motion as to all of Nicaj's claims, except for his false arrest claim. Tr. at 217; 412-14. That claim was thereafter submitted to the jury, which rendered a verdict for Defendants. Verdict Form, dated Feb. 1, 2017, Dkt. No. 104. Judgment was then entered on February 2, 2017. Judgment, Dkt. No. 106.

On March 27, 2017, Nicaj timely moved for a new trial pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 59 and 60. Motion, dated Mar. 27, 2017, Dkt. No. 110.2 In his motion, Nicaj argues that the Court erred when it dismissed his "illegal strip search" claim, his malicious prosecution claim, and his conversion claim. Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for a New Trial, dated Mar. 27, 2017 ("Pl. Mem."), at 3-4, Dkt. No. 111. Defendants have opposed Nicaj's motion, noting that "plaintiff's moving papers are devoid of any citation to the record generated at trial nor was plaintiff's counsel, David Zelman, Esq. [ ("Zelman") ], even present for the majority, if not the entirety, of the proceedings before the jury." Defendants' Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for a New Trial, dated Apr. 27, 2017 ("Def. Opp."), at 3, Dkt. No. 113. Nicaj replied to Defendants' opposition on May 3, 2017. Memorandum of Law in Reply, dated May 3, 2017 ("Reply"), Dkt. No. 115.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard

"Reconsideration of a previous order by the court [pursuant to Rule 59(e) ] is an 'extraordinary remedy to be employed sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of scarce judicial resources.' " NEM Re Receivables, LLC v. Fortress Re, Inc. , 187 F.Supp.3d 390, 395 (S.D.N.Y. 2016) (quoting In re Health Mgmt. Sys. Inc. Sec. Litig. , 113 F.Supp.2d 613, 614 (S.D.N.Y. 2000) ). "The standard for granting ... a motion [for reconsideration] is strict, and reconsideration will generally be denied unless the moving party can point to controlling decisions ... that the court overlooked-matters, in other words, that might reasonably be expected to alter the conclusion reached by the court." Estate of Gottdiener v. Sater , 35 F.Supp.3d 402, 403-04 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) (quoting Shrader v. CSX Transp., Inc. , 70 F.3d 255, 257 (2d Cir. 1995) ) (alterations in original), aff'd , 602 Fed.Appx. 552 (2d Cir. 2015) ; Schoolcraft v. City of N.Y. , 248 F.Supp.3d 506, 507-08, 2017 WL 1194703, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. 2017) ("The burden is on the movant to demonstrate that the Court overlooked controlling decisions or material facts that were before it on the original motion and that might 'materially have influenced its earlier decision.' ") (quoting Anglo Am. Ins. Group v. CalFed, Inc. , 940 F.Supp. 554, 557 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) ). "The major grounds justifying reconsideration are an intervening change of controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice." Muench Photography, Inc. v. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub. Co. , No. 09-CV-2669 (LAP), 2010 WL 3958841, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 27, 2010) (quoting Virgin Atl. Airways Ltd. v. Nat'l Mediation Bd. , 956 F.2d 1245, 1255 (2d Cir. 1992) ). "The motion to reconsider cannot properly advance new facts, issues or arguments not previously presented to the *713court." Gottdiener , 35 F.Supp.3d at 404 (internal quotation marks omitted).

Under Rule 60(b), "the court may relieve a party ...

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282 F. Supp. 3d 708, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nicaj-v-city-of-ny-ilsd-2017.