Johnson v. City of N.Y.

593 F.Supp.3d 58

J-Quan JOHNSON, Plaintiff,

v.CITY OF NEW YORK, New York City Police Department, Vicente Perez, Police Officer Steve Tirado, Police Officer Gerard Staples, Police Officer Jose Joseph, Dwight Powell, John Doe New York City Police Officer Number One, John Doe New York City Police Officer Number Two, John Doe New York City Police Officer Number Three, John Doe New York City Police Officer Number Four, and John Doe New York City Police Officer Number Five, Defendants.

15 Civ. 6915 (ER)

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

Signed March 23, 2022

Arjeta Albani, Caitlin Anne Robin, James Kiefer Kirk, Olivia Taylor Knott, Caitlin Robin and Associates, PLLC, New York, NY, Brian J. Isaac, Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & De Cicco, New York, NY, Cary London, Cary London Law PLLC, New York, NY, Scott A. Korenbaum, New York, NY, Michael Ira Braverman, Getz & Braverman, P.C., Bronx, NY, for Plaintiff.

Alison Sue Mitchell, New York City Law Department, New York, NY, for Defendants City of New York, Vicente Perez, Police Officer Steve Tirado.

Alison Sue Mitchell, Hannah Victoria Faddis, LaDonna Sharde Sandford, New York City Law Department, Special Federal Litigation Division, New York, NY, Elissa Paulette Fudim, DOJ-Civ, Washington, DC, for Defendants Police Officer Gerard Staples, Police Officer Jose Joseph, Dwight Powell.

New York City Police Department, Pro Se.

OPINION & ORDER

Ramos, D.J.:

Following a jury trial before this Court, a jury returned a verdict against defendants, New York City police officers Dwight Powell and Jose Joseph, finding that they subjected J-Quan Johnson to excessive force. Doc. 167. Before the Court is defendants’ post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b) and 59(a), respectively. Doc. 191. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

On June 7, 2014, Johnson ruptured the Achilles tendon in his left leg while playing a pickup game of basketball. Doc. 91 at 2. As a result of this injury, Johnson underwent several surgeries on his leg. Id.

On August 30, 2014, Johnson was attending a back-to-school block party on West 164^th Street between Edgecombe Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights, New York. Id. The organizers of the party had not obtained a permit for the gathering. Id. Johnson walked to the block party on crutches with his mother, arriving sometime between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Id. While only 10 to 20 individuals were setting up for the party when he arrived, by 9:00 p.m. there were approximately 300 to 400 people in attendance, many of whom were drinking alcohol and listening to music in the street. Id. Some were also smoking marijuana. Id. Johnson did not smoke marijuana, although he was drinking and listening to music. Id.

Between 8:40 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., New York Police Department ("NYPD") officers arrived and attempted to disperse the party. Id. at 3. Johnson remained seated in a chair until the officers left the block. Id. The officers later returned to the party and again attempted to disperse the crowd. Id. Johnson again remained seated. "Chaos" then broke out as an officer tried to arrest someone. Id. Some partygoers threw glass bottles towards the officers, while others yelled and cursed at the officers. Id. Johnson remained seated until a police officer approached him and asked him to leave. Id. Johnson told the officer he was on crutches and was waiting for the crowd to lighten before leaving. Id. Approximately 30 seconds later, he did start to walk up the street. Id. He stopped two buildings down the street to observe officers’ conversation with a man. Id. The party crowd remained "hostile," with people yelling and cursing at officers. Id. Johnson exclaimed aloud that the officers needed to "get a fucking life." Id. at 4.

One officer, defendant Powell, ordered a man on the street to "back up" and pushed him, causing him to fall backwards and bump into Johnson's injured leg. Id. Johnson stumbled backwards and exclaimed "Oh, what the fuck." Id. He then turned to Officer Powell and said "Yo, watch what you're doing." Id. Powell responded, "I don't give a fuck about your foot." Id. The two continued to exchange words until Powell suddenly reached out and pushed Johnson's head back. Id. Three or four officers in addition to Powell then jumped on Johnson, allegedly punching him repeatedly and wrestling him to the ground while telling him to "stop resisting." Id. Johnson alleges that he told the officers that he was not resisting and could not move. Id. Johnson alleges that he felt another officer, subsequently identified as Officer Joseph, stomp on his left leg and hit him with a baton four times. Id. Johnson was also handcuffed and allegedly dragged by his collar down the street, where he was seated next to an ambulance. Id. He further alleges than an officer walked up to him at that time and punched him in the face. Id.

Johnson was then transported to New York Presbyterian Hospital via ambulance. Id. at 5. After he was discharged, he was criminally charged with Assault in the Second Degree related to his alleged assault of Officer Powell. Id. The charges were dismissed approximately 11 months later, on August 3, 2015. Id.

B. Procedural Background

Johnson filed the instant action on September 2, 2015, asserting federal claims against the individual defendants Perez, Valerio, Tirado, Burke, Staples, Stapleton, Joseph, and Powell for excessive force as well as a Monell claim against New York City and the NYPD. Doc. 1. Johnson also asserted state law claims for assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the individual defendants as well as a state law claim under respondeat superior against the City and the NYPD. Id.

The trial commenced on May 18, 2021 on Johnson's claims for excessive force against defendants Powell, Joseph, Valerio, and Staples¹ and his claims for failure to intervene against defendants Burke and Stapleton. In the case in chief, Johnson testified as well as witnesses Matrice Everett and Shavon Nash, Johnson's mother. Each of the defendants also testified. Lastly, Johnson called Dr. Gabriel Dassa as an expert on his medical condition, including the doctor's opinion that Johnson's tendon was re-ruptured due to a higher energy trauma matching Joseph hitting his heel with the ASP, an expandable baton. Defendants called EMT Nicholas LaRocca and Sergeant Sandy Espinal as witnesses. Defendants also called Dr. Jeffrey Passick to give expert testimony on Johnson's medical condition, including his opinion that Johnson's Achilles tendon had actually re-ruptured weeks prior to the incident with the police. The jury was shown two videos of portions of the incident, played at both regular and ¼ speed, Docs. 202-1 and 202-2. The first video purports to show Johnson being pushed up against a fence by several officers attempting to arrest him, including Powell, who can be seen swinging his arms rapidly near Johnson's face. The second video purports to show Johnson on the ground a few seconds after the first video, being arrested by several officers including Joseph, who can be seen swinging his ASP rapidly towards the ground near Johnson's feet.

At the close of Johnson's case on May 21, 2021, defendants moved under Rule 50 to dismiss the claims against Powell, Joseph, Burke, and Stapleton. Doc. 181 at 519:16–535:10. The Court denied the motion. Id. at 535:8–10. The jury returned a verdict on May 25, 2021. Doc. 167. The jury found no liability as to Valerio for excessive force and no liability as to Burke or Stapleton as to failure to intervene. Id. However, the jury found against Powell and Joseph for the claims of excessive force. Id. The jury awarded $60,000 in compensatory damages and $30,000 in punitive damages against Powell, as well as $40,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages against Joseph. Id.

Defendants filed the instant motion seeking judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50 or a new trial under Rule 59 on July 23, 2021. Doc. 191.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

"Judgment as a matter of law may not properly be granted under F.R.C.P. 50(b) unless the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the opposing party, is insufficient to permit a reasonable juror to find in his favor." Galdieri-Ambrosini v. Nat'l Realty & Dev. Corp. , 136 F.3d 276, 289 (2d Cir. 1998) ; see also MacDermid Printing Sols. LLC v. Cortron Corp. , 833 F.3d 172, 180 (2d Cir. 2016) (where a jury has returned a verdict in favor of the non-movant, a court may grant judgment as a matter of law to the movant "only if the court, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant, concludes that a reasonable juror would have been compelled to accept the view of the moving party." (quoting Cash v. Cnty. of Erie , 654 F.3d 324, 333 (2d Cir. 2011) )); Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a) (a court may grant a motion as a matter of law "[i]f a party has been fully heard on an issue during a jury trial and the court finds that a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the party on that issue."). "That burden is ‘particularly heavy’ where, as here, ‘the jury has deliberated in the case and actually returned its verdict’ in favor of the non-movant." Cash , 654 F.3d at 333 (quoting Cross v. N.Y.C. Transit Auth. , 417 F.3d 241, 248 (2d Cir. 2005) ). A court should accordingly set aside a jury's verdict only "where there is such a complete absence of evidence supporting the verdict that the jury's findings could only have been the result of sheer surmise and conjecture, or there is such an overwhelming amount of evidence in favor of the movant that reasonable and fair minded [persons] could not arrive at a verdict against him." Vangas v. Montefiore Med. Ctr. , 823 F.3d 174, 180 (2d Cir. 2016) (alteration in original) (quoting Stampf v. Long Island R.R. Co. , 761 F.3d 192, 197 (2d Cir. 2014) ). In deciding such a motion, " ‘[t...