Opinion ID: 786794
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Scope of the New Trial

Text: 169 Where it is clear from the undisputed evidence that a plaintiff's injuries were caused by a defendant's [unlawful conduct], the jury's failure to award some compensatory damages will be set aside and a new trial ordered. Haywood v. Koehler, 78 F.3d at 104; see, e.g., Wheatley v. Beetar, 637 F.2d at 867. And in such a case, where the jury has addressed the issues of liability and damages separately and there is no basis for inferring that the finding on liability was a compromise verdict or was otherwise procedurally flawed, the new trial may be limited to the quantification of compensatory damages. See, e.g., Wheatley v. Beetar, 637 F.2d at 867-68; Baskin v. Hawley, 807 F.2d at 1135; Martell v. Boardwalk Enterprises, Inc., 748 F.2d 740, 756 (2d Cir.1984); see also Haywood v. Koehler, 78 F.3d at 104 (new trial []usually limited to the issue of the amount of compensatory damages). 170 In the present case, the jury was given interrogatories the answers to which revealed its findings on discrete questions of liability and damages. The proper instructions to the jury on the liability issues were clear, and we see no indication that the jury's finding as to the lack of probable cause was a compromise verdict. We conclude that the liability issues were fairly tried and resolved. Accordingly, in light of the jury's finding that Crossan acted without probable cause, Kerman was entitled as a matter of law to an award of compensatory damages for so much of his postsearch loss of liberty as was attributable to Crossan, and it is appropriate to limit the new trial — the third trial in this case — to the amount of compensatory damages that Kerman should receive for his loss of liberty. 171 We note that if Crossan had asked the district court to present to the jury the questions that needed to be answered in order to permit him to prevail on his affirmative defenses, and if the court had refused to do so, we would order a new trial encompassing also the issues of privilege and qualified immunity. However, he made no request that the requisite findings be made by the jury, despite the explicit guidance given in Kerman II that such findings by the jury were necessary. Accordingly, we see no just reason to order a new trial with respect to his defenses. 172 On remand, the jury should be informed that it has been established that Crossan's orders for Kerman's detention and hospitalization after completion of the officers' search for a gun violated Kerman's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unlawful seizure and his state-law right to be free from false imprisonment. The jury should be properly instructed on the matter of foreseeability; and it should be asked to determine, based on the evidence admitted at the new trial, the duration of Kerman's postsearch detention and hospitalization attributable to Crossan and the amount of damages that will compensate Kerman for that loss of liberty. Placing a value on Kerman's loss of liberty — necessarily a subjective exercise, see, Raysor, 768 F.2d at 39 — is the province of the jury, subject to the court's power to set aside a verdict that is excessive, see, e.g., Gardner v. Federated Department Stores, Inc., 907 F.2d at 1353 (ordering conditional remittitur of damages award for loss of liberty); id. at 1351 (noting a conditional remittitur ordered by district court as to another category of damages). 173 Finally, we note that Kerman states that Judge Patterson indicated that any renewed proceedings in the district court would be held before a different judge, and Kerman states that he has no objection to a reassignment. This Court sees no basis whatever for instructing that the matter be remanded to a different judge of the district court, and we leave any such administrative decision to that court.