Opinion ID: 790925
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Nimely's Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law

Text: 22 Nimely's first claim on appeal is that the district court erred in denying his motion, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50, for judgment as a matter of law. Nimely argues, primarily on the basis of the testimony of his four eyewitnesses and two medical experts, that the evidence at trial established beyond any question of fact that Muirhead's shooting constituted excessive force. Nimely also contends that much of Dawson's expert testimony was improperly admitted, and that, in the absence of that testimony, Muirhead and McCarthy's version of the events leading up to Nimely's shooting could not have been credited by any reasonable juror.
23 We review de novo the district court's denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law, applying the same standards that guided the district court's consideration of the issue. See Leibovitz v. New York City Transit Authority, 252 F.3d 179, 184 (2d Cir.2001); Stratton v. Department for the Aging for the City of New York, 132 F.3d 869, 878 (2d Cir.1997). A Rule 50 motion may be granted only when, considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and drawing all reasonable evidentiary inferences in that party's favor, there was no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find in favor of the non-moving party. Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a); see Diesel v. Town of Lewisboro, 232 F.3d 92, 103 (2d Cir.2000); cf. Kerman v. City of New York, 374 F.3d 93, 118 (2d Cir.2004) ([T]he standard for judgment as a matter of law is the same as the standard for summary judgment.). We may not assess the weight of conflicting evidence, pass on the credibility of the witnesses, or substitute [our] judgment for that of the jury, LeBlanc-Sternberg v. Fletcher, 67 F.3d 412, 429 (2d Cir.1995) (internal quotation omitted), and we may reverse the district court only if there is such a complete absence of evidence supporting the verdict that the jury's findings could only have been the result of sheer surmise and conjecture, or [there is] such an overwhelming amount of evidence in favor of the movant that reasonable and fair minded [jurors] could not arrive at a verdict against [him]. Id. (internal quotation omitted). 24 As to the substantive legal principles governing Nimely's claims, in order to establish that Muirhead's use of force was constitutionally excessive within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, Nimely was required to show that Muirhead's actions were objectively unreasonable in light of the facts and circumstances confronting [him], without regard to [his] underlying intent or motivation. 7 Maxwell v. City of New York, 380 F.3d 106, 108 (2d Cir.2004) (internal quotation marks omitted). 25 With respect to deadly force in particular, an officer's decision to use deadly force is objectively reasonable only if the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others. Cowan ex rel. Estate of Cooper v. Breen, 352 F.3d 756, 762 (2d Cir.2003) (internal quotation omitted); see also Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 11, 105 S.Ct. 1694, 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985) (Where the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the harm resulting from failing to apprehend him does not justify the use of deadly force to do so.). In all cases, the reasonableness of the officer's decision to use force in effectuating a seizure depends only upon the officer's knowledge of circumstances immediately prior to and at the moment that he made the split-second decision to employ deadly force. Cowan, 352 F.3d at 762 (internal quotation omitted). 26 To prove his state law civil battery claim against Muirhead, Nimely was required to show that the officer made bodily contact, that the contact was offensive, and that [Muirhead] intended to make the contact. Laurie Marie M. v. Jeffrey T. M., 159 A.D.2d 52, 55, 559 N.Y.S.2d 336 (2d Dep't 1990). Additionally, Nimely was required to prove that Muirhead's conduct was not reasonable within the meaning of the New York statute concerning justification of law enforcement's use of force in the course of their duties. See N.Y. Penal Law § 35.30(1); see also Brunelle v. City of New York, 269 A.D.2d 347, 348, 702 N.Y.S.2d 648 (2d Dep't 2000).
27 Nimely contends that the jury's verdict in favor of Muirhead could only have been the result of sheer surmise and conjecture, LeBlanc-Sternberg, 67 F.3d at 429, because the four eyewitnesses who testified on behalf of Nimely consistently affirmed that Nimely had never brandished a weapon at Muirhead, because the medical evidence established that Nimely was shot in the back, and because Muirhead's and McCarthy's testimony was clearly perjurious. Additionally, Nimely argues that only Dawson could possibly have provided a means of reconciling Muirhead and McCarthy's version of events with the undisputed facts. But, Nimely adds, the critical portions of Dawson's testimony were erroneously admitted, and must be excluded from the mix of legally sufficient evidence to be considered in a Rule 50 motion. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a) (authorizing judgment as a matter of law where there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find in the non-movant's favor (emphasis added)). 28 We, however, conclude that, deferring to the trial jury's capacity to make any and all credibility determinations, and drawing all reasonable evidentiary inferences in favor of the defense, Nimely was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Moreover, we reach this conclusion on the assumption that Dawson's testimony was legally excludable. We do so because we believe that the jury was entitled to credit the testimony of Muirhead and McCarthy even without the corroborating force of Dawson's opinions. 8 29 The core issue at trial was that of the reasonableness of Muirhead's actions, that is, whether Muirhead was, by virtue of Nimely's behavior leading up to and at the moment of the shooting, justified in employing deadly force. Contrary to Nimely's assertion, the evidence presented at trial did not paint an uncontroverted account of what Nimely was doing in the minutes before being shot by Muirhead. Only one of Nimely's four eyewitnesses — Collier —actually claimed to have seen the shooting itself, and his statements were unsworn, not cross-examined, and impeached by a prior felony conviction and by his (admittedly) having consumed alcohol prior to making his observations. Nor was Nimely's own testimony without problems. The jury was permitted to learn of Nimely's two felony convictions, including one arising from his possession of a weapon on the night of his shooting. And, although Nimely contended, with at least hypothetical support from his medical experts, that he had no memory of the critical moments surrounding the shooting, that assertion was countered by Nimely's deposition testimony, describing his collision with the fence, and, to some extent, by hospital records containing no notations pertaining to memory loss. 30 Moreover, the medical evidence, even apart from Dawson's testimony, was complicated at best. While it was clear that Nimely was shot in the back, it was uncontested that Nimely landed face-up on the ground. Nimely's own medical experts testified that Nimely may have been turned as much as a quarter of the way toward Muirhead when he was struck with Muirhead's bullet. And, although those doctors asserted that that Nimely could not have turned, after having been shot, to face Muirhead erect and with a gun squarely aimed, they also testified that the force of the bullet could have turned Nimely's body the rest of the way around to allow him to land on his back. 31 Thus, the evidence presented by Nimely did not, as a matter of law, exclude the possibility that Nimely, as Muirhead and McCarthy contended, had been turning toward Muirhead, gun in hand, on the brink of firing, when Muirhead responded with deadly force. A jury, properly instructed and presented with admissible evidence, could have concluded that Muirhead's and McCarthy's testimony supported such a possibility, notwithstanding the fact that both may have been inaccurate in their assertions that Nimely had actually faced and aimed at Muirhead before being shot. Such a conclusion could be the product of evidence— and credibility-weighings that are not within our province to question. 9 32 The district court therefore properly denied Nimely's motion for judgment as a matter of law.