Opinion ID: 464799
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the liability of the officers

Text: 31 The Officers' principal contention on this appeal is that the verdict of the jury finding them liable to Fiacco for violation of her constitutional rights must be set aside because it is inconsistent with its verdict that they did not maliciously and wantonly assault Fiacco in violation of state law. They argue that the latter finding requires the inference that the jury adopted the Officers' version of the events and that the jury must have found that Fiacco caused her own injuries by stumbling to the ground in an attempted escape. We find no merit in this contention. 32 When a claim is made that a jury's answers to special interrogatories are inconsistent, our responsibility as a reviewing court is to adopt a view of the case, if there is one, that resolves any seeming inconsistency. See Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc. v. Ellerman Lines, Ltd., 369 U.S. 355, 364, 82 S.Ct. 780, 786, 7 L.Ed.2d 798 (1962) (Where there is a view of the case that makes the jury's answers to special interrogatories consistent, they must be resolved that way.); Martell v. Boardwalk Enterprises, Inc., 748 F.2d 740, 748 (2d Cir.1984). Bearing in mind that the jury was entitled to believe parts and disbelieve parts of the testimony of any given witness, we have little difficulty in concluding that there is a view of the case that adequately explains the jury's answers to all of the questions as to the Officers' liability. 33 The first interrogatories asked whether either of the Officers (1) [d]eprived ... Fiacco of her Constitutional rights in the federal claim pursuant to Title 42, Section 1983; or (2) [m]aliciously and wantonmly [sic ] assaulted ... Fiaaco [sic ] under the laws of the State of New York. The differing language of these interrogatories suggests a rational basis on which the jury may have answered the first in the affirmative and the second in the negative. The second interrogatory required, for an affirmative answer, that the jury find that any assault on Fiacco was malicious. No such language was included in the first interrogatory, and the instructions given to the jury with respect to the Sec. 1983 claim made clear that a finding of malice was not a prerequisite to a verdict in favor of Fiacco on that claim. The jury was instructed that although a police officer has the right to use such force as is necessary under the circumstances to effect a lawful arrest, he is not entitled to use force that is unreasonable, unnecessary, or violent; it was instructed that if it found that Fiacco had proven by a preponderance of the evidence that either of the Officers had committed the acts she alleged and that the force used was excessive, it was to find in favor of Fiacco unless it found that the defendants had established a defense of good faith. As to the latter issue, the court instructed the jury that it could not find that defense established if it concluded that the Officer in question either (a) maliciously intended to deprive Fiacco of her constitutional rights or (b) knew or reasonably should have known that his actions would violate her clearly established constitutional rights. 34 Within the framework of these instructions and the language of the interrogatories, the jury could have found that the Officers had used excessive force against Fiacco in violation of her constitutional rights, and that they should have known that they were violating those rights, but that their acts were not malicious. Viewed in this light, the jury's answers to the interrogatories finding the Officers liable to Fiacco for violation of her constitutional rights but not for a malicious assault are not inconsistent. Accordingly, we see no basis on which to disturb the jury's liability verdict against the Officers on the Sec. 1983 claim.