Opinion ID: 483247
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Dismissal of the Complaint Against the County

Text: 54 We see no abuse of the court's discretion in directing that final judgment enter immediately with respect to plaintiffs' claims against the County. The jury's answers to the interrogatories had consistently found that, in the period covered by the liability trial, the County had not participated in the alleged wrongdoing. Claims as to earlier periods had been summarily rejected by the court. The court had considered plaintiffs' request for a new trial on the basis of alleged errors in evidentiary and discovery rulings and had rejected that request. Thus, there was no longer a serious possibility that plaintiffs could recover against the County. 55 Nor was there any likelihood that the district court litigation of plaintiffs' surviving claims would in any way make moot an appellate ruling on the issues relating to the dismissal of the case against the County, for the liability issues common to all defendants had been disposed of, either by the district court in its rulings or by the jury in its answers to interrogatories. The issues that remain to be litigated, i.e., the remedies to which the plaintiffs are entitled, have no bearing on the liability issues decided in favor of the County. 56 Finally, we find not inappropriate the district court's view that, in light of the possible length of the remedy stage of the case, it would be unjust to require the plaintiffs to wait until that phase is concluded to obtain appellate review of the dismissal of the County, for vacation of that dismissal could require plaintiffs to go through a duplicative lengthy remedy phase if the County were eventually found liable to plaintiffs.