Wright v. Wilburn

194 F.R.D. 54, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3023, 2000 WL 283852
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedMarch 13, 2000
DocketNo. 3:98-CV-849
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 194 F.R.D. 54 (Wright v. Wilburn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wright v. Wilburn, 194 F.R.D. 54, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3023, 2000 WL 283852 (N.D.N.Y. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM-DECISION & ORDER

McAVOY, Chief Judge.

I. Background

Plaintiff John Wright (“Wright”) brought suit against Defendant Douglas Wilburn (“Wilburn”) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging claims of false arrest, excessive force and malicious prosecution. This matter proceeded to trial before a jury on January 18, 2000.

During the charge conference held on January 31, 2000, the Court reviewed the text of the jury charge and verdict sheet packet with the parties and gave them an opportunity to object to any portion of the charge and verdict sheet. With respect to the Court’s instructions regarding Plaintiffs excessive force claim (the only portion of the jury’s verdict challenged by Plaintiff in the instant motion), the charge contained separate instructions regarding substantive liability, i.e., whether Defendant used objectively unreasonable or excessive force when he arrested Plaintiff, and qualified immunity, i.e., whether a reasonable police officer, judged by an objective standard, would disagree on the legality of Defendant’s actions. Consequently, the jury was required to make two separate and distinct inquiries with respect to the “reasonableness” of Defendant’s actions — the first focused on reasonableness as a component of a Fourth Amendment violation and the second focused on reasonableness as a component of a qualified immunity defense.

During the charge conference, Defendant objected to the Court’s decision to submit the issue of qualified immunity to the jury. See Transcript of January 31, 2000 Charge Conference at 3-4 (Docket No. 56). Plaintiff made no such objection to that portion of the [56]*56charge and, moreover, included substantially similar language in its proposed verdict sheet filed with the Court. See id.; PL Proposed Special Verdict Form, at 1-2 (Docket No. 21).

At the close of trial, Defendant made motions pursuant to Fed. R. Crv. P. 50(a) with respect to: (1) Plaintiffs false arrest, malicious prosecution and excessive force claims and (2) the issue of qualified immunity. See Transcript of February 1, 2000 Proceedings at 3-4 (Docket No. 57). The Court denied Defendant’s first motion and reserved on the actual malice element of Plaintiffs malicious prosecution claim and on the issue of qualified immunity. See id. at 5-6. Plaintiff, however, did not move, pursuant to Rule 50(a), on the issue of whether Defendant was entitled to qualified immunity.

The jury was charged late the following day. Before the jury began their deliberations, the Court again gave the parties an opportunity to object to any portion of the jury charge or verdict sheet outside the presence of the jury. See Transcript of February 1, 2000 Proceedings at 52-56 (Docket No. 58). This part of the trial was especially critical as it provided the Court with an opportunity to amend the charge or verdict sheet before the jury began deliberating. At that time, both parties placed objections on the record. Plaintiff objected to the inclusion of reckless endangerment in the second degree as an offense upon which Defendant based his probable cause determination at the time Plaintiff was arrested. See id. at 52. Plaintiff also objected to the Court charging elements of disorderly conduct that were not part of the accusatory instrument. See id. at 53. In addition to renewing his objection regarding submitting the issue of qualified immunity to the jury, Defendant objected to the “generality” of that portion of the charge and whether the charge sufficiently clarified that qualified immunity was Defendant’s sole burden of proof in this case. See id. at 54-55. Defendant again renewed his Rule 50 motions. At that time, Plaintiff made no Rule 50 motions. As it was near the end of the day, the Court instructed the jury that they would begin them deliberations the following day, February 2, 2000.

During deliberations, the jury raised a question regarding question 1(B)(2) of the verdict sheet, which addressed qualified immunity with respect to Plaintiffs excessive force claim. See Docket No. 46. Notably, it is that portion of the verdict sheet that Plaintiff now challenges in connection with his motion for a new trial. Immediately thereafter, the jury raised a second question on this issue, indicating that they were missing two pages of the Court’s charge that dealt with qualified immunity. See Docket No. 47. Recognizing that the jury’s confusion on this issue stemmed from the missing pages, the Court referred the jury to the specific portion of the charge addressing qualified immunity. See February 3, 2000 Transcript of Proceedings at 4-6 (Docket No. 60). Neither party objected to the Court’s supplemental instruction on this point. See id. at 6.

Near the end of the second full day of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict. On Plaintiffs false arrest and malicious prosecution claims, the jury found that probable cause existed for Plaintiffs arrest and subsequent criminal prosecution on the disorderly conduct and resisting arrest offenses. On the excessive force claim, the jury found that although Defendant used unreasonable or excessive force against Plaintiff, a reasonable police officer in Defendant’s position would have believed his conduct was legal.1 See id. [57]*57at 7-9; Verdict Sheet Package at 4-10 (Docket No. 38). Following the jury’s verdict and prior to their discharge, Plaintiff neither requested that the jury be polled nor raised any objection to any portion of the jury’s verdict. See February 3, 2000 Transcript of Proceedings, at 10. Final judgment was entered on February 7, 2000. See Docket No. 51.

Plaintiff now moves for a partial new trial, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(a), solely with respect to the jury’s verdict on Plaintiffs excessive force claim.2 See PL Notice of Motion at 1 (Docket No. 52). In support of his motion for a new trial, Plaintiff argues that the Court, rather than the jury, should have determined whether Defendant was entitled to qualified immunity on the excessive force claim. Plaintiff further argues that, even accepting Defendant’s version of the facts as true, Plaintiff is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of qualified immunity with respect to Plaintiffs excessive force claim.3 In response, Defendant advances four grounds for denying Plaintiffs relief: (1) Plaintiff waived the right to , object to the submission of the qualified immunity issue to the jury; (2) submission of the qualified immunity issue to the jury does not warrant a new trial; (3) Plaintiff waived the right to seek judgment as a matter of law on the issue of qualified immunity; and (4) even assuming Plaintiff did properly move for judgment as a matter of law on the qualified immunity issue, he is not entitled to such relief. See Def. Mem. of Law at 1.

II. Discussion

A. Standards For a New Trial Under Rule 59

“A district court should grant a new trial motion if it ‘is convinced that the jury has reached a seriously erroneous result or that the verdict is a miscarriage of justice.’” United States v. Landau, 155 F.3d 93, 104 (2d Cir.1998) (quoting Smith v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
194 F.R.D. 54, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3023, 2000 WL 283852, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wright-v-wilburn-nynd-2000.