Slevin v. Board of Commissioners

934 F. Supp. 2d 1270, 2012 WL 7808092
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedDecember 14, 2012
DocketCivil No. 08-cv-1185 MV/SMV
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 934 F. Supp. 2d 1270 (Slevin v. Board of Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Slevin v. Board of Commissioners, 934 F. Supp. 2d 1270, 2012 WL 7808092 (D.N.M. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MARTHA VÁZQUEZ, District Judge.

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Defendants’ Motion for New Trial on [1273]*1273Damages or, in the Alternative, Remittitur [Doc. 120]. The Court, having considered the motion, briefs, relevant law and being otherwise fully informed, finds that the Motion is not well-taken and will be denied.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Stephen Slevin commenced the instant action on December 28, 2008. See Doc. 1 (Complaint). Plaintiff had been arrested on state charges of driving while intoxicated and receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, and was booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center (the “Detention Center”) on August 24, 2005. Id. at 2. He remained at the Detention Center until June 25, 2007, when the charges against him were dismissed. Id. at 4. Plaintiff alleged that, because of his mental illness, officials at the Detention Center kept him in administrative segregation for virtually the entire 22 months of his incarceration, without humane conditions of confinement or adequate medical care, and without periodic review of his confinement, causing his physical and mental deterioration. Id. at 2-4. Based on these allegations, Plaintiff claimed that Defendants violated his procedural due process and substantive due process rights and his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and committed the torts of false imprisonment and negligent maintenance of a building. Id. at 4-7.

The case proceeded to a five-day jury trial. After several hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff on all counts. See Doc. 96 (Special Verdict Form). Specifically, the jury found Defendants Board of County Commissioners (the “County”), Christopher Barela, Director of the Detention Center, and Daniel Zemek, Medical Director of the Detention Center, liable for depriving Plaintiff of his constitutional rights to humane conditions of confinement, adequate medical care, and procedural due process, and as a result of these constitutional deprivations, found that Plaintiff was entitled to compensatory damages from the County, Barela, and Zemek, and to punitive damages from Barela and Zemek. Id. The jury awarded Plaintiff $3 million in punitive damages against Barela, and $3.5 million in punitive damages against Zemek. Id. The jury further found Defendant Barela liable for violating Plaintiffs rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and as result of this violation, found that Plaintiff was entitled to compensatory damages from Barela. Id. Next, the jury found the Detention Center liable for the torts of false imprisonment and negligent operation or maintenance of a building, and as a result of this liability, found that Plaintiff was entitled to compensatory damages from the Detention Center. Id. Finally, the jury fixed the amount of compensatory damages at $15.5 million, to include $500,000 for each month that Plaintiff was incarcerated, plus an additional $1 million for each year since Plaintiffs release from custody. Id.

A Final Judgment in favor of Plaintiff was entered on February 17, 2012. Doc. 105. Thereafter, on March 16, 2012, Defendants filed the instant motion seeking a new trial or, in the alternative, remittitur. Doc. 120. Plaintiff filed a response in opposition on April 6, 2012, Doc. 128, and Defendants’ reply followed on April 23, 2012. Doc.134.

LEGAL STANDARD

This Court’s “review of a jury’s findings with respect to damages is limited to whether they are supported by substantial evidence.” Evans v. Fogarty, 241 Fed.Appx 542, 561 (10th Cir.2007), cert. denied, 553 U.S. 1018, 128 S.Ct. 2081, 170 L.Ed.2d 816 (2008). In reviewing a damages award [1274]*1274for excessiveness, the Court is guided by the principle that “[i]t is within the virtually exclusive purview of the jury to evaluate credibility and fix damages.” United Int’l Holdings, Inc. v. Wharf (Holdings) Ltd., 210 F.3d 1207, 1230 (10th Cir.2000), aff'd, 532 U.S. 588, 121 S.Ct. 1776, 149 L.Ed.2d 845 (2001); State Office Sys., Inc. v. Olivetti Corp. of America, 762 F.2d 843, 847 (10th Cir.1985) (noting that “[t]he fixing of damages is peculiarly a function of the jury”) (citation omitted); see also Malandris v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., 703 F.2d 1152, 1170 (10th Cir.1981) (en Banc) (“What is most relevant in this case is not the judicial conscience, it is the conscience of the community as represented by the six people who served on this trial jury.”). Accordingly, the Tenth Circuit has made clear that, unless the jury has awarded damages “so excessive as to shock the judicial conscience and to raise an irresistible inference that passion, prejudice, corruption or other improper cause invaded the trial, the jury’s determination of the damages is considered inviolate.” Id. at 1168. While “bias, prejudice or passion can be inferred from excessiveness[,] ... a verdict will not be set aside on this basis unless it is so plainly excessive as to suggest that it was the product of such passion or prejudice on the part of the jury.” Id. Upon a finding that a damages award is erroneously excessive, under the practice of remittitur, the Court “may condition a denial of a motion for a new trial on the plaintiffs accepting damages in a reduced amount.” McClary v. Coughlin, III, 87 F.Supp.2d 205, 218 (W.D.N.Y.2000), aff'd, 237 F.3d 185 (2d Cir.2001).

DISCUSSION

I. Compensatory Damages Award

Defendants ask this Court to grant a new trial on damages, or in the alternative, condition denial of a new trial on Plaintiffs acceptance of a reduction in his compensatory damages award from $15.5 million to $2 million. Although admitting both that the jury’s finding of liability was proper, and that there was “substantial evidence supporting an award of compensatory damages,” Doc. 121 at 2, Defendants nonetheless argue that the compensatory damages award fixed by the jury is “ ‘plainly excessive’ and likely the product of passion and prejudice.” Id. at 3. According to Defendants, although the “evidence and injury [suffered by Plaintiff] are not to be minimized ... no reasonable calculus can value Plaintiffs compensatory damages at $6 million per year of incarceration, as the jury did.” Id. As set forth herein, under the “relatively generous” standard applicable to this Court’s review of the damages award, and carefully considering the facts of this case, see Evans, 241 Fed.Appx. at 562, the Court cannot agree with Defendants that the jury’s compensatory damages award shocks the judicial conscience.

A. The Jury’s Compensatory Award is Not Excessive on Its Face.

Defendants argue that the sheer amount of the award demonstrates its ex-cessiveness, and that on this basis alone, the award should be remitted. In support of this argument, Defendants first note that at least $15 million of the award is attributable solely to “intangibles,” namely, pain, suffering, and emotional distress.

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Bluebook (online)
934 F. Supp. 2d 1270, 2012 WL 7808092, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/slevin-v-board-of-commissioners-nmd-2012.