Opinion ID: 786794
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Kerman I and the First Trial

Text: 8 Kerman commenced the present action against the City, Crossan, and eight other City police officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging, inter alia, that his Fourth Amendment rights had been violated by the warrantless entry into his apartment, by his initial seizure, and by his subsequent involuntary detention and hospitalization. Kerman also asserted that various ways in which the officers treated him after the initial seizure — which included keeping him naked, refusing to let him give medicine to his sick cat, sending him to the hospital, transporting him on his back with his hands painfully cuffed under his 270-pound body, and sending him to Bellevue Hospital rather than to a hospital closer to his home or to Dr. Malone — were motivated by Crossan's desire to retaliate against Kerman for exercising his First Amendment right by expressing derogatory views of the policemen in his apartment and threatening to sue them. The complaint also asserted state-law claims principally for battery, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 9 In Kerman I, District Judge Lawrence M. McKenna, to whom the case was then assigned, granted partial summary judgment in favor of all nine police officers, dismissing all of Kerman's claims except those alleging that the officers' actions after they handcuffed Kerman (1) violated his federal constitutional right not to be subjected to excessive force and (2) constituted battery in violation of state law. As to the dismissed claims against the individuals, the court ruled, inter alia, that the conduct attributed to them was reasonable and that they were thus entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law on Kerman's First Amendment and unlawful seizure claims. See Kerman I, 1999 WL 509527, at -. 10 The court dismissed Kerman's § 1983 claims against the City for lack of any allegation or evidence that the alleged deprivations of his constitutional rights resulted from any municipal policy or custom. See id. at . The state-law battery claim against the City was not dismissed; the City does not dispute that it would be liable for intentional state-law torts found to have been committed by the officers. The § 1983 claim against Crossan for excessive force and the state-law claims against Crossan and the City for battery remained for trial. 11 Thereafter, the case was reassigned to Judge Patterson, and a jury trial was held on the two undismissed claims. The jury found in favor of all of the officers on the battery claim and in favor of all officers except Crossan on the excessive force claim. On the excessive force claim against Crossan, the jury awarded Kerman compensatory damages of $75,000 and indicated that punitive damages were warranted. The district court viewed the jury's verdict in favor of Crossan on the battery claim but against him on the excessive force claim as inconsistent, and it instructed the jury to resume deliberations. When the jury thereafter was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the excessive force claim, the court granted a motion by Crossan pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50 for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL), dismissing that claim on the ground that Crossan was entitled to qualified immunity. Accordingly, judgment was entered dismissing all of Kerman's claims against all defendants.