Opinion ID: 772567
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Vacating the First Jury Verdict and the October 15, 1998 Order

Text: 258 In their cross-appeal the plaintiffs also argue that the District Court improperly vacated the jury award following the first trial. In that decision, the District Court held that there was insufficient evidence for the trier of fact to have concluded that the predicate acts found to have been committed by Rouis and Curtis were the proximate cause of harm to the plaintiffs' business or property. With respect to Dirie and the Bernas defendants, however, the Court concluded that the proof of damages adduced at trial was too speculative and imprecise to support the damages awarded by the jury and, because the issues of damages and liability were inextricably intertwined, Dirie, Bernas, JML and JBI were entitled to a new trial on both liability and damages. 259 As noted above, a district court's decision on a motion for judgment as a matter of law is reviewed de novo, applying the same standards as the district court to determine whether judgment as a matter of law was appropriate. See, e.g., Merrill Lynch, 155 F.3d at 120. 260 We find no error in the District Court's ruling on the defendants' motions for judgment as a matter of law following the first trial. For the reasons set forth in detail by the Court in DeFalco v. Dirie, 978 F. Supp. 491 (S.D.N.Y. 1997), quoted in the procedural history section above, we affirm that decision. 261 The plaintiffs also argue that the District Court improperly precluded them from offering any evidence at the second trial regarding damages from the aborted sales of the property. For the reasons set forth in the District Court's October 15, 1998 order and in its opinion of September 26, 1997, this Court agrees that such evidence was properly excluded as too speculative and conjectural. We will not disturb the District Court's determination that the probative value of the proffered evidence was substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect. Fed. R. Evid. 403.