Opinion ID: 200604
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: After the jury issued its verdict, defendants moved for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(b), or in the alternative for a new trial pursuant to Rule 59. The district court denied both avenues of relief, and defendants appealed. A party seeking recourse under either rule faces an uphill battle: In reviewing the denial of a motion for directed verdict or for judgment notwithstanding the verdict we must examine the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and determine whether there are facts and inferences reasonably drawn from those facts which lead to but one conclusion - - that there is a total failure of evidence to prove plaintiff's case. Gutierrez-Rodriguez v. Cartagena, 882 F.2d 553, 558 (1st Cir. 1989) (quoting Mayo v. Schooner Capital Corp., 825 F.2d 566, 568 (1st -31- Cir. 1987)). When considering a Rule 59(a) motion, a district court may set aside a jury's verdict and order a new trial only if the verdict is against the demonstrable weight of the credible evidence or results in a blatant miscarriage of justice. Sanchez v. Puerto Rico Oil Co., 37 F.3d 712, 717 (1st Cir. 1994). Defendants' failure to produce the transcripts from their own case in chief precludes review of their sufficiency of the evidence challenges. It is well-settled that a court must review a sufficiency of the evidence challenge against the backdrop of the record as a whole. See United States v. McLaughlin, 957 F.2d 12, 18 (1st Cir. 1992) (In reviewing the record for a sufficiency of the evidence appeal, it is well established that the evidence must be examined in its entirety . . . ); N.Y. State Elec. & Gas Corp. v. Sec'y of Labor, 88 F.3d 98, 108 (2d Cir. 1996) ([T]he sufficiency of the evidence is tested on appeal by viewing the entire record.). As noted above, Rule 10 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure requires an appellant contesting the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal to include in the record a transcript of all evidence relevant to that finding or conclusion. Fed. R. App. P. 10(b)(2). Our previous jurisprudence establishes that the evidence relevant to a finding of sufficiency (or lack thereof) is the record as a whole. Since it is the appellant who must bear the brunt of an insufficient record on appeal, Moore, 47 F.3d at 11, we must conclude that defendants have procedurally defaulted their sufficiency of the evidence challenges. -32-