Soto v. City of N.Y.

283 F. Supp. 3d 135
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 27, 2017
DocketNo. 12–CV–6911 (RA)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 283 F. Supp. 3d 135 (Soto 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
Soto v. City of N.Y., 283 F. Supp. 3d 135 (S.D. Ill. 2017).

Opinion

RONNIE ABRAMS, United States District Judge

This case arises out of the tragic shooting of a mentally ill man and his mother by members of the New York City Police Department. Plaintiffs Edgar Soto, Jr., Flora Soto, and Edgar Soto, Sr. asserted excessive force and due process claims against the City of New York and Police Officers Brian Santiago, Angel Torres, and Augustin Melendez pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as state law claims for assault, battery, and loss of consortium. After a two-week jury trial, Plaintiffs moved for partial judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50, arguing that the shots fired by Officer Santiago during the incident in question constituted "textbook excessive force." The Court denied the motion with leave to renew. The case was submitted to the jury, which found for Defendants on all claims. Plaintiffs now renew their motion for partial judgment as a matter of law. For the reasons that follow, the motion is denied.

BACKGROUND

On May 7, 2012, Officers Santiago and Torres responded to a call from dispatch regarding a family dispute with a knife at 408 East 65th Street in Manhattan. Trial Tr. at 968:16-18, 981:24-982:1, 1033:3-7, 1062:9-18. When they arrived, they encountered Diana Soto, Edgar Soto, Jr.'s sister, who told them that Edgar was upstairs with their mother, Flora Soto, and that Edgar had a knife. Id. at 1064:10-16, 1266:17-21; see also id. at 1033:20-25. Officers Santiago and Torres could hear yelling, which grew louder as they moved upstairs. Id. at 1034:1-9, 1064:17-20, 1266:22-25. On the stairway between the fifth and sixth floors of the building, they encountered Officer Julian Cocianga, who had arrived before them. Id. at 983:2-3, 1034:5-13, 1066:1-5, 1256:9-11, 1267:1-4; see also id. at 438:2-18. Officer Cocianga had his gun drawn and pointed towards Edgar, who was on the sixth floor. Id. at 969:17-18, 983:4-5, 1034:5-13, 1256:12-15, *1381267:1-4; see also id. at 429:3-4, 436:25-437:5, 449:21-23. Officers Santiago and Torres heard Officer Cocianga repeatedly instruct Edgar to drop the knife that he was reportedly holding. Id. at 983:19-21, 1034:5-13, 1034:20-1035:1, 1267:11-17; see also id. at 420:13-18, 449:12-16, 450:1-4. Officer Cocianga and Edgar were yelling loudly at one another, and Edgar refused to drop the knife despite Officer Cocianga's commands. Id. at 983:22-23, 1034:5-13, 1034:20-1035:1, 1267:11-17; see also id. at 420:17-18, 450:1-4, 1305:21-1306:4.

Officers Santiago and Torres moved past Officer Cocianga and up to the sixth floor. Id. at 983:15-18, 1035:9-10, 1035:19-1036:3, 1267:18-24. Once they reached the sixth floor, they saw Edgar and Flora directly in front of them. Id. at 985:2-16, 1036:8-19, 1037:20-1038:11, 1070:9-11, 1268:9-15. Edgar, who was in his early twenties and weighed over 200 pounds, id. at 682:20-23, 688:1-3, 860:7-11, was holding a steak knife, id. at 961:13-15, 1035:4-8, 1036:20-23, 1075:18-21, 1076:21-1077:2, 1078:9-12, 1268:16-24; see also id. at 376:6-9, 1300:1-2. Both Officers Santiago and Torres testified that the knife was pointed in their direction. Id.

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283 F. Supp. 3d 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/soto-v-city-of-ny-ilsd-2017.