Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_13-cv-00438/USCOURTS-cand-5_13-cv-00438-34/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Civil Rights Act

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Case No.: 13-CV-00438 LHK

FINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS

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United States District Court

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SAN JOSE DIVISION

RICHARD KATZMAN,

 Plaintiff,

v.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN 

TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY,

a special district,

 Defendant. 

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No.: 13-CV-00438 LHK

FINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS

Dated: April 23, 2015 _______________________________

LUCY H. KOH

United States District Judge

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1. DUTY OF JURY

Members of the Jury: Now that you have heard all of the evidence and will hear the arguments of 

the attorneys, it is my duty to instruct you as to the law of the case.

Each of you has received a copy of these instructions that you may take with you to the jury room 

to consult during your deliberations.

You must not infer from these instructions or from anything I may say or do as indicating that I 

have an opinion regarding the evidence or what your verdict should be.

It is your duty to find the facts from all the evidence in the case. To those facts you will apply the 

law as I give it to you. You must follow the law as I give it to you whether you agree with it or 

not. And you must not be influenced by any personal likes or dislikes, opinions, prejudices, or 

sympathy. That means that you must decide the case solely on the evidence before you. You will 

recall that you took an oath to do so.

In following my instructions, you must follow all of them and not single out some and ignore 

others; they are all important.

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2. BURDEN OF PROOF—PREPONDERANCE OF THE EVIDENCE

When a party has the burden of proof on any claim by a preponderance of the evidence, it means 

you must be persuaded by the evidence that the claim is more probably true than not true.

You should base your decision on all of the evidence, regardless of which party presented it.

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3. WHAT IS EVIDENCE

The evidence you are to consider in deciding what the facts are consists of:

(1) the sworn testimony of any witness; 

(2) the exhibits which are received in evidence; and

(3) any facts to which the lawyers have agreed.

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4. WHAT IS NOT EVIDENCE

In reaching your verdict, you may consider only the testimony and exhibits received into evidence. 

Certain things are not evidence, and you may not consider them in deciding what the facts are. I 

will list them for you:

(1) Arguments and statements by lawyers are not evidence. The lawyers are not 

witnesses. What they said in their opening statements, will say in their closing 

arguments, and at other times is intended to help you interpret the evidence, but it is 

not evidence. If the facts as you remember them differ from the way the lawyers 

have stated them, your memory of them controls.

(2) Questions and objections by lawyers are not evidence. Attorneys have a duty to 

their clients to object when they believe a question is improper under the rules of 

evidence. You should not be influenced by the objection or by the court’s ruling on 

it.

(3) Testimony that has been excluded or stricken, or that you have been instructed to 

disregard, is not evidence and must not be considered. In addition sometimes 

testimony and exhibits are received only for a limited purpose; when I give a 

limiting instruction, you must follow it.

(4) Anything you may have seen or heard when the court was not in session is not 

evidence. You are to decide the case solely on the evidence received at the trial.

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5. DIRECT OR CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE

Evidence may be direct or circumstantial. Direct evidence is direct proof of a fact, such as 

testimony by a witness about what that witness personally saw or heard or did. Circumstantial

evidence is proof of one or more facts from which you could find another fact. You should 

consider both kinds of evidence. The law makes no distinction between the weight to be given to 

either direct or circumstantial evidence. It is for you to decide how much weight to give to any 

evidence.

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6. CREDIBILITY OF WITNESSES

In deciding the facts in this case, you may have to decide which testimony to believe and which 

testimony not to believe. You may believe everything a witness says, or part of it, or none of it.

Proof of a fact does not necessarily depend on the number of witnesses who testify about it.

In considering the testimony of any witness, you may take into account:

(1) the opportunity and ability of the witness to see or hear or know the things testified

to;

(2) the witness’s memory;

(3) the witness’s manner while testifying;

(4) the witness’s interest in the outcome of the case and any bias or prejudice;

(5) whether other evidence contradicted the witness’s testimony;

(6) the reasonableness of the witness’s testimony in light of all the evidence; and

(7) any other factors that bear on believability.

The weight of the evidence as to a fact does not necessarily depend on the number of witnesses 

who testify about it.

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7. NOTES

Whether or not you took notes, you should rely on your own memory of the evidence. Notes are 

only to assist your memory. You should not be overly influenced by your notes or those of your 

fellow jurors.

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United States District Court

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8. DAMAGES—PROOF

It is the duty of the Court to instruct you about the measure of damages. By instructing you on 

damages, the Court does not mean to suggest for which party your verdict should be rendered.

If you find for the plaintiff on the plaintiff’s claims, you must determine the plaintiff’s damages. 

The plaintiff has the burden of proving damages by a preponderance of the evidence. Damages 

means the amount of money that will reasonably and fairly compensate the plaintiff for any injury 

you find was caused by the defendant. You should consider the following:

The nature and extent of the injuries;

The mental, physical, emotional pain and suffering experienced and which with reasonable 

probability will be experienced in the future; and

The reasonable value of earnings lost to the present time.

It is for you to determine what damages, if any, have been proved.

Your award must be based upon evidence and not upon speculation, guesswork or conjecture.

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United States District Court

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9. DAMAGES—MITIGATION

The plaintiff has a duty to use reasonable efforts to mitigate damages. To mitigate means to avoid 

or reduce damages.

The defendant has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence:

1. that the plaintiff failed to use reasonable efforts to mitigate damages; and

2. the amount by which damages would have been mitigated.

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10. NOMINAL DAMAGES

The law which applies to this case authorizes an award of nominal damages for each cause of 

action. For any cause of action, if you find for the plaintiff on a cause of action but you find that 

the plaintiff has failed to prove damages as defined in these instructions, you must award nominal 

damages. Nominal damages for each cause of action may not exceed one dollar.

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11. SECTION 1983 CLAIM—INTRODUCTORY INSTRUCTION

The plaintiff brings two claims under the federal statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which provides that any 

person or persons who, under color of law, deprives another of any rights, privileges, or immunities 

secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States shall be liable to the injured party.

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12. SECTION 1983 CLAIM—ELEMENTS AND BURDEN OF PROOF

In order to prevail on a § 1983 claim against the defendant, the plaintiff must prove each of the 

following elements by a preponderance of the evidence:

1. the defendant acted under color of law; and

2. the acts of the defendant deprived the plaintiff of his particular rights under the 

Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution as explained in later 

instructions.

A person acts “under color of law” when the person acts or purports to act in the performance of 

official duties under any state, county, or municipal law, ordinance, or regulation. The parties have 

stipulated that the defendant acted under color of law.

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13. SECTION 1983 CLAIM—DEPRIVATION OF DUE PROCESS

Under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a public entity such as the 

defendant, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, may not deprive a 

person of a property right without due process of law.

In order to prove that the plaintiff was deprived of a property right without due process of law, the 

plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant did not provide an 

adequate procedure in connection with the suspension of plaintiff’s pension payments. In 

determining whether the defendant provided an adequate procedure, you must consider the 

following:

(1) the extent of the plaintiff’s private interest in the uninterrupted payment of his pension;

(2) the risk that the defendant’s existing procedures will erroneously deprive a pension 

recipient of his or her pension, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute 

procedural safeguards; and

(3) the defendant’s interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and 

administrative burdens that the additional or substitute procedural requirement would entail.

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14. SECTION 1983 CLAIM—DEPRIVATION OF EQUAL PROTECTION

Under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, a public entity such as the

defendant, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, may not deny a person 

the equal protection of the law.

In this case, the plaintiff asserts a type of Equal Protection claim known as a “class of one” Equal 

Protection claim. To establish a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth 

Amendment on the basis of a “class of one” theory, the plaintiff must demonstrate each of the 

following three elements:

(1) that the defendant treated the plaintiff differently than others similarly situated to the 

plaintiff;

(2) that the defendant did so intentionally; and

(3) that the defendant’s different treatment of the plaintiff was without a rational basis.

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15. DUTY TO DELIBERATE

When you begin your deliberations, you should elect one member of the jury as your presiding 

juror. That person will preside over the deliberations and speak for you here in court.

You will then discuss the case with your fellow jurors to reach agreement if you can do so. Your 

verdict must be unanimous.

Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but you should do so only after you have considered 

all of the evidence, discussed it fully with the other jurors, and listened to the views of your fellow 

jurors.

Do not hesitate to change your opinion if the discussion persuades you that you should. Do not 

come to a decision simply because other jurors think it is right.

It is important that you attempt to reach a unanimous verdict but, of course, only if each of you can 

do so after having made your own conscientious decision. Do not change an honest belief about 

the weight and effect of the evidence simply to reach a verdict.

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16. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE—CONDUCT OF THE JURY

Because you must base your verdict only on the evidence received in the case and on these 

instructions, I remind you that you must not be exposed to any other information about the case or 

to the issues it involves. Except for discussing the case with your fellow jurors during your 

deliberations:

Do not communicate with anyone in any way and do not let anyone else communicate with 

you in any way about the merits of the case or anything to do with it. This includes 

discussing the case in person, in writing, by phone or electronic means, via email, text 

messaging, or any Internet chat room, blog, website or other feature. This applies to 

communicating with your family members, your employer, the media or press, and the 

people involved in the trial. If you are asked or approached in any way about your jury 

service or anything about this case, you must respond that you have been ordered not to 

discuss the matter and to report the contact to the court. 

Do not read, watch, or listen to any news or media accounts or commentary about the case 

or anything to do with it; do not do any research, such as consulting dictionaries, searching 

the Internet or using other reference materials; and do not make any investigation or in any 

other way try to learn about the case on your own. 

The law requires these restrictions to ensure the parties have a fair trial based on the same evidence 

that each party has had an opportunity to address. A juror who violates these restrictions 

jeopardizes the fairness of these proceedings, and a mistrial could result that would require the 

entire trial process to start over. If any juror is exposed to any outside information, please notify 

the court immediately.

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17. COMMUNICATION WITH THE COURT

If it becomes necessary during your deliberations to communicate with me, you may send a note 

through the bailiff, signed by your presiding juror or by one or more members of the jury. No 

member of the jury should ever attempt to communicate with me except by a signed writing; I will 

communicate with any member of the jury on anything concerning the case only in writing, or here 

in open court. If you send out a question, I will consult with the parties before answering it, which 

may take some time. You may continue your deliberations while waiting for the answer to any 

question. Remember that you are not to tell anyone—including me—how the jury stands, 

numerically or otherwise, until after you have reached a unanimous verdict or have been 

discharged. Do not disclose any vote count in any note to the court.

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18. RETURN OF VERDICT

A verdict form has been prepared for you. After you have reached unanimous agreement on a

verdict, your presiding juror will fill in the form that has been given to you, sign and date it, and 

advise the court that you are ready to return to the courtroom.

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