Opinion ID: 735432
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: I can't testify specifically what their actions or movements were.

Text: 217 Q. Generally what did they do? 218 A. I can't even tell you generally. I do know that Officer Heideman did have ahold of Mr. Martin somewhere along the line. 219 Q. He's holding onto a signpost? 220 A. Yes, sir. 221 Q. With both hands? 222 A. Yes, sir. 223 Q. You've got one hand? 224 A. I'm attempting to get one hand. 225 Q. Somebody else has the other one? 226 A. Yes. 227 Q. And somebody else probably also has his hands on Mr. Martin involved in extricating Mr. Martin from the post, fair statement? 228 A. I suppose, yes, sir. Like I said, my memory is not as good as it was--as it would have been two or three years ago. 229       230 Q. Can you describe, in your own words, how Donny was moved from the signpost and eventually handcuffed and arrested? 231 A. As I said before, I had ahold of his right hand. He had ahold of the signpost and would not let go. We eventually were able to get him to let go of the signpost, brought him down to the ground, and he was placed in the handcuffs. 232 (J.A. at 363-67.) 233 Obviously, from the record of testimony, the 5 to 30-second incident here in issue did not evoke the specter of law enforcement personnel clubbing, kicking, punching, or brutally beating a bleeding plaintiff, or even threatening him with weapons or physical bodily harm while executing his arrest. It was a momentary scuffle that resulted when the plaintiff, while refusing to be handcuffed, backed away from the officers into a roadway guardrail, causing him to lose his balance and to fall backwards onto the roadside berm. 234 In determining if the force used to effect a particular seizure is reasonable, Fourth Amendment jurisprudence has long recognized that the right to make an arrest ... carries with it the right to use some degree of physical coercion or threat of physical force to effect custody. Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 1872, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989) (citing Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 22-27, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1880-83, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968)). The Supreme Court has stated: 235 The reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.... With respect to a claim of excessive force, the same standard of reasonableness at the moment applies: Not every push or shove, even if it may later seem unnecessary in the peace of a judge's chambers, violates the Fourth Amendment. The calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments--in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving--about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation. 236 As in other Fourth Amendment contexts, however, the reasonableness inquiry in an excessive force case is an objective one: the question is whether the officers' actions are OBJECTIVELY REASONABLE  in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them, without regard to their underlying intent of motivation. 237 Id. at 396-97, 109 S.Ct. at 1872 (citations omitted & emphasis added) 238 Mindful of the above directive, this appellate review must, at the threshold of its deliberations, determine if the jury's verdict absolving the police officers of using excessive force during the crucial 5 to 30 seconds required to place the plaintiff into custody was supported by SOME COMPETENT, CREDIBLE EVIDENCE which would end the inquiry and foreclose setting the jury's verdict aside. 239 In addressing the finality of jury verdicts, the Supreme Court has, in no uncertain terms, mandated that: 240 It is not the function of a court to search the record for conflicting circumstantial evidence in order to take the case away from the jury on a theory that the proof gives equal support to inconsistent and uncertain inferences. The focal point of judicial review is the reasonableness of the particular inference or conclusion drawn by the jury. It is the jury, not the court, which is the fact-finding body. It weighs the contradictory evidence and inferences, judges the credibility of witnesses, receives expert instructions, and draws the ultimate conclusion as to the facts. The very essence of its function is to select from among conflicting inferences and conclusions that which it considers most reasonable. That conclusion, whether it relates to negligence, causation or any other factual matter, cannot be ignored. COURTS ARE NOT FREE TO REWEIGH THE EVIDENCE AND SET ASIDE THE JURY VERDICT MERELY BECAUSE THE JURY COULD HAVE DRAWN DIFFERENT INFERENCES OR CONCLUSIONS OR BECAUSE JUDGES FEEL THAT OTHER RESULTS ARE MORE REASONABLE. 241 Tennant v. Peoria & P.U. Ry. Co., 321 U.S. 29, 35, 64 S.Ct. 409, 412, 88 L.Ed. 520 (1944) (citations omitted & emphasis added). 242 This circuit has consistently echoed that admonition. In Anchor v. O'Toole, 94 F.3d 1014 (6th Cir.1996), the court stated: 243 Consequently, the scope of review of a damage award is extremely narrow. A trial court may not grant a new trial on the ground of insufficient damages UNLESS THE JURY VERDICT IS ONE THAT COULD NOT REASONABLY HAVE BEEN REACHED. The remedy of a new trial for inadequate damages is appropriate only where the evidence indicates that the jury awarded damages in an amount substantially less than unquestionably proved by the plaintiff's uncontradicted and undisputed evidence. THUS, IF THE VERDICT IS SUPPORTED BY SOME COMPETENT, CREDIBLE EVIDENCE, A TRIAL COURT WILL BE DEEMED NOT TO HAVE ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN DENYING THE MOTION. 244 Id. at 1021 (citation omitted & emphases added). 245 Also, in Portage II v. Bryant Petroleum Corp., 899 F.2d 1514 (6th Cir.1990), the court again reaffirmed its position: 246 '[C]ourts are not free to reweigh the evidence and set aside the jury verdict merely because the jury could have drawn different inferences or conclusions or because judges feel that other results are more reasonable.' Tennant v. Peoria & P.U. Ry. Co., 321 U.S. 29, 35 [64 S.Ct. 409, 412, 88 L.Ed. 520] (1944); Werthan Bag Corp. v. Agnew, 202 F.2d 119, 122 (6th Cir.1953). Thus, while the district judge has a duty to intervene in appropriate cases, the jury's verdict should be accepted if it is one which could reasonably have been reached. 247 Bruner v. Dunaway, 684 F.2d 422, 425 (6th Cir.1982). See also Berner, 346 F.2d at 536 ([W]here ... there is an evidentiary basis for the jury's verdict, the jury is free to discard or believe whatever facts are inconsistent with its conclusion. And the appellate court's function is exhausted when that evidentiary basis becomes apparent, it being immaterial that the court might draw a contrary inference or feel that another conclusion is more reasonable.). 248 Id. at 1523-24 (alterations in original). 249 In assessing the evidence developed during the trial of the instant case against the Supreme Court mandate and this circuit's existing precedent, the panel majority abuses its appellate responsibility. 250 At the conclusion of the evidence, the jury was presented with two basic scenarios. The panel majority's inference to the contrary, the disparities between the plaintiff's version of the 5 to 30-second incident, and the versions of Officers Heideman, Heckle, and Paul were relatively inconsequential when reviewed in juxtaposition. 251 Subsequent to the exchange of accusations and profanities, plaintiff accused Heideman and Heckle as the instigators. Heideman and Heckle attributed the initiation of profanities to the plaintiff when he became irritated (which he has admitted) upon being advised that Paul was about to issue a citation against him and Serra for falsifying a police report. The officers also explained that he became progressively more agitated, animated and belligerent when Heideman placed him under arrest for disorderly conduct and, as a result of his truculence and verbally abusive manner, plaintiff refused to be handcuffed. In any event, all accounts agree that plaintiff refused to be handcuffed and retreated backward into a roadway guardrail. As Heideman reached for him, plaintiff's calves contacted the guardrail and he lost his balance, falling over the guardrail carrying Heideman with him, who fell on plaintiff's back. Heideman testified that, while in that position, he brought plaintiff's arms behind him and placed the handcuffs on his wrists, at which point the incident ended. Plaintiff was assisted to a standing position and escorted to and placed into Paul's police cruiser. Heckle corroborated Heideman's testimony. 252 Plaintiff testified that as Heideman approached him, he retreated into the guardrail causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards, whereupon he grabbed a signpost situated on the berm of the roadway to keep from falling to the ground. He testified further that all three of the officers thereupon attempted to disengage his hands from the signpost when he, the plaintiff, fell to the berm of the roadside. 253 Apart from the testimony of various participants, as related in the record, the trial judge permitted the introduction of plaintiff's extensive subjective complaints, together with objective clinical findings that resulted from a physical examination conducted just hours subsequent to the incident in the ambulatory service emergency room at St. Luke's Hospital West, where he, the plaintiff, had been referred by his family physician, Dr. Harold Markesbery. 254 The objective clinical findings are consistent with the testimony of plaintiff's fall onto the roadside berm. Dr. Markesbery's reason for the requested examination was plaintiff's subjective complaint of injury R [right] arm and shoulder--R elbow, R shoulder, L wrist. The hospital report of plaintiff's examination states: 255 This 50-year-old man was in an altercation last night and states that he injured his right shoulder, right elbow and left wrist. Apparently he had his hands placed over his head and there was a certain amount of hyperextension to his arms at his shoulders. He also had handcuffs put on his hands and the left wrist became irritated because of the handcuffs. At this time, he denies any loss of sensation in his hands bilaterally. PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: RIGHT SHOULDER REVEALS FULL RANGE OF MOTION. HE IS TENDER OVER THE DELTOID AREA. NO AREA OF SWELLING OR DISCOLORATION. RIGHT ELBOW DEMONSTRATES FULL RANGE OF MOTION WITH THE MOST PAIN PRODUCED BY FULL EXTENSION. THERE IS NO SWELLING OR CONTUSIONS OVER THE ELBOW. THE LEFT WRIST DEMONSTRATES AN AREA OF ERYTHEMA (IT APPEARS TO BE A SKIN BURN) PROXIMAL TO THE DISTAL FIBULA ON THE LATERAL ASPECT OF THE ARM. HE IS MILDLY TENDER IN THIS AREA. THERE IS FULL RANGE OF MOTION OF THE WRIST. THIS MAN IS NEUROVASCULARLY INTACT IN BOTH UPPER EXTREMITIES. 256 (J.A. at 112) (emphasis added.) 257 The report references no discoloration. X-rays taken as a part of plaintiff's examination contradict his claim of a fracture to his right clavicle attributable to the incident: 258 I examined the right clavicle with great care and could not ascertain if there was any tenderness. The patient tells me that he had possible clavicular fracture during high school. Radiological exam demonstrates a questionable greenstick fracture of his right clavicle. IN VIEW OF HIS CLINICAL EXAM, I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS IS A FRACTURE. 259 (J.A. at 113) (emphasis added.) 260 Dr. Markesbery's requested x-rays of plaintiff's right elbow, including oblique views, Reveal no acute fracture, significant bone, joint, or soft tissue abnormality and x-ray studies of his left wrist, including oblique views, Reveal no acute fracture, significant bone, joint or soft tissue abnormalities. (J.A. at 115.) 261 It is difficult to determine from Dr. Markesbery's correspondence or testimony if his medical opinions and conclusions were derived from his personal knowledge and examinations of the defendant before April 9, 1991, some sixty three days after the incident. The record implicates that plaintiff's examinations and treatment during the interim period were conducted by Dr. Markesbery's associate, Dr. Baker, during two visits on February 7 and March 16, 1991. Dr. Baker's record of treatment on February 7, 1991 notes that the plaintiff complained arm sore and numb, wrist hurt, treated Tuesday a.m. [Feb. 5,] at St. Luke West, neck stiff, given Naprosyn and Tylenol No. 3--anti-inflammatory medicine which was refilled on March 16, 1991, without further examination or treatment. Dr. Baker's diagnosis on the February 7, 1991 VISIT WAS MULTIPLE CONTUSIONS, STRAINS, AND A FINDING OF A FRACTURED CLAVICLE, (an incorrect finding). There are no references in his notes of discoloration or swelling. Dr. Baker also stated that most of his [plaintiff's] discomfort was related to a fractured clavicle. (J.A. at 120.) It is, however, conceded by all parties that this finding of a fractured clavicle were erroneous and incorrect. Nevertheless, Dr. Markesbery was permitted, over objection, to interpret plaintiff's subjective complaints, the objective clinical findings of plaintiff's physical appearance and condition after the incident that reflected upon the force that was applied by the officers while placing the plaintiff under arrest, as disclosed by St. Luke's West hospital records and X-rays on February 5, 1991, and the results of the examination conducted by Dr. Baker on February 7, 1991. 262 Upon the evidence developed during the trial, the closing arguments of counsel and the court's jury instructions, the jury, after due deliberations, returned a verdict absolving the defendant police officers of using excessive force while arresting and handcuffing the plaintiff, who was resisting arrest. 263 The jury's answers to two special interrogatories left no doubt as to its findings and conclusions: 264 1A. Has the plaintiff proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the following defendants used excessive force in arresting the plaintiff: 265 (a) Robert Heideman Yes ___ No XX 266 (b) Robert Heckle Yes ___ No XX 267 (c) Roger Paul Yes ___ No XX 268 /s/ Michael Connley Foreperson 269    270 2A. Has the plaintiff proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the handcuffs were excessively tight after plaintiff was in the cruiser and that defendant Roger Paul unreasonably refused to respond to a reasonable request to loosen them? Yes ___ No XX 271 /s/ Michael Connley Foreperson 272 (J.A. at 236-37.) 273 Certainly, it cannot be argued with conviction that the jury's verdict absolving the police officers of using excessive force in executing the arrest and custody of plaintiff was unsupported by competent credible evidence under any version of the testimony addressing the operative facts of the incident, especially, as here, where there was competent, credible evidence that injuries, if any suffered by the plaintiff, were not the result of any excess force, but rather proximately resulted from plaintiff's accidental fall onto the roadside berm when he backed into the roadway guardrail. Accordingly, the panel majority would be remiss if it ignored this circuit's admonition that: 274 A trial court may not grant a new trial on the ground of insufficient damages UNLESS THE JURY VERDICT IS ONE THAT COULD NOT REASONABLY HAVE BEEN REACHED. The remedy of a new trial for inadequate damages is appropriate only where the evidence indicates that the jury awarded damages in an amount substantially less than unquestionably proved by the plaintiff's uncontradicted and undisputed evidence. THUS, IF THE VERDICT IS SUPPORTED BY SOME COMPETENT, CREDIBLE EVIDENCE, A TRIAL COURT WILL BE DEEMED NOT TO HAVE ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN DENYING THE MOTION. 275 Anchor v. O'Toole, 94 F.3d 1014, 1021 (6th Cir.1996) (citations omitted & emphases added). See also Tennant v. Peoria & P.U. Ry. Co., 321 U.S. 29, 64 S.Ct. 409, 88 L.Ed. 520 (1944): 276 It is not the function of a court to search the record for conflicting circumstantial evidence in order to take the case away from the jury on a theory that the proof gives equal support to inconsistent and uncertain inferences. The focal point of judicial review is the reasonableness of the particular inference or conclusion drawn by the jury. It is the jury, not the court, which is the fact-finding body. It weighs the contradictory evidence and inferences, judges the credibility of witnesses, receives expert instructions, and draws the ultimate conclusion as to the facts. The very essence of its function is to select from among conflicting inferences and conclusions that which it considers most reasonable. That conclusion, whether it relates to negligence, causation or any other factual matter, cannot be ignored. Courts are not free to reweigh the evidence and set aside the jury verdict merely because the jury could have drawn different inferences or conclusions or because judges feel that other results are more reasonable. 277 Id. at 35, 64 S.Ct. at 412 (citations omitted); see Portage II v. Bryant Petroleum Corp., 899 F.2d 1514 (6th Cir.1990). 278 The panel majority, however, has vacated the jury's verdict and remanded this case for retrial by invading the discretionary judgment reserved virtually exclusively for the trial court by concluding that it erroneously: 279 1). bifurcated the trial of the case into causal/liability and damages stages; and 280 2). precluded certain relevant medical testimony during the causal/liability phase of the trial. 281 A review of the unabridged, admitted and excluded medical testimony proffered by the plaintiff during the causal/liability phase of the trial supports the precedential legal fidelity of the trial court's evidentiary rulings. It admitted the following broad spectrum of proof from which the jury could judge the measure of force attributable to the officers who were arresting a resisting plaintiff: 282 1). plaintiff's testimony describing his subjective complaints of pain to his right shoulder, arm, and right and left wrist; 283 2). medical records reflecting his physical examination, objective clinical observations and findings, diagnoses and treatment that resulted from his February 5, 1991, visit to the ambulatory service emergency room at St. Luke's Hospital West within hours subsequent to the incident; 284 3). office records of plaintiff's physical examinations and medical treatment conducted by Dr. Markesbery's associate, Dr. Baker, during his visit on February 7, 1991; and 285 4). Dr. Markesbery's interpretation of Dr. Baker's office records concerning his (Baker's) examination of plaintiff. 3 The trial court excluded: 286 1). the testimony of Dr. Markesbery concerning Martin's physical condition prior to the incident of February 5, 1991, which was obviously irrelevant to the issue of causation, the only issue of consideration before the jury during the first phase of the bifurcated trial; 287 2). Dr. Markesbery's opinion concerning the causal relationship between the surgery performed by Dr. Sommerkamp approximately one year after the incident of February 5, 1991, and the force applied by the officers in arresting a resisting Martin; 288 3). Dr. Markesbery's erroneous diagnosis of a possible fractured right clavicle, which was ultimately conceded by the plaintiff at trial to be erroneous; and 289 4). the testimony of Dr. Sommerkamp, an orthopedic surgeon to whom Martin had been referred by Dr. Markesbery approximately one year after the incident of February 5, 1991, including: 290 (a) his diagnosis of right posterior interosseus intraponent neuropathy (referred to as PIN--a pinched nerve similar to carpal tunnel syndrome, a degenerative condition of the nerves in the area of the arms, seen in individuals, like plaintiff, a former mechanic who performed manual labor on a routine basis); 291 (b) the surgery he performed on plaintiff's right arm and wrists; 292 (c) his follow-up treatment; 293 (d) his equivocal opinion as to causal relationship between his surgery and the force applied by the officers in arresting a resisting Martin approximately a year before he vacillated: 294 i. As we related before, we do feel that a hyperpronation/hyperextension injury to the right upper extremity COULD POTENTIALLY CAUSE posterior osseous (sic) nerve compression. However, we are UNABLE TO DEFINITIVELY STATE THAT THIS IS TRULY THE SOLE CAUSE OF SUCH A CONDITION. 295 ii. It is DIFFICULT TO STATE RELATIVE DEGREES OF PERCENTAGE AS FAR AS CAUSATION. Suffice to say that with the mechanism of an injury described it's CERTAINLY PLAUSIBLE, could even be considered probable that type of injury could injure the right posterior osseous nerve.iii. Any hyperextension maneuver to the upper extremities can place extreme loads on the supraspinatus rotator cuff tendons. So AGAIN, IT IS PLAUSIBLE that a prior premorbid condition of impingement, degenerative arthritis might have been aggravated from such a mechanism. 296 iv. I think with respect to this injury it's probably much more fair to state THAT IT'S PLAUSIBLE, NOT NECESSARILY PROBABLE, that the injury caused the aggravation or the symptoms in the right shoulder. 4 297 (Appellees' Br. at 30, 31) (quoting Pl.'s Dep. Sommerkamp) (emphases added.) 298 The panel majority, in arriving at its conclusions, ignores the basic time-honored precedent addressing the trial court's discretionary authority to consider and rule upon the admission of evidence during the progress of a proceeding before it: 299 [E]videntiary rulings are left to the discretion of the trial judge. Especially in a case of this length and magnitude, the trial judge understands each item of evidence and its place in the web of other evidence in a way that no appellate court can. Realizing this, we look only for abuses of discretion. If there has been an abuse of discretion, we still will not reverse a ruling or order a new trial absent actual prejudice. THERE IS NO PREJUDICE FROM THE WRONGFUL EXCLUSION OF EVIDENCE IF OTHER SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT EVIDENCE OF THE SAME FACTS [WAS] ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE. Nor is there prejudice if the absence of the evidence had no effect on the final result of the trial. 300 In Re Air Crash Disaster, 86 F.3d 498, 526 (6th Cir.1996) (citations omitted & emphasis added). 301 The trial court's broad discretion to control the conduct of a trial before it was recognized in Geisler v. Folsom, 735 F.2d 991 (6th Cir.1984). In that case, this circuit concluded that: 302 The trial judge has, and must have, broad discretion in the conduct of a trial. Rulings on the relevancy and materiality of evidence may not be disturbed on appeal in the absence of a showing of clear abuse of discretion. We find no such abuse here. The plaintiff was permitted to introduce some evidence on each of her claims. 303 Id. at 997 (citation omitted). 304 The panel majority's disposition reflects a total misunderstanding of the distinction between the issues of causation/liability and damages as presented by the instant case. 305 Its rationale that the officers exceeded their constitutional authority and used excessive force to arrest a resisting plaintiff embraces not only medical testimony of his subjective complaints and objective physical consequences of the force applied that were apparent immediately subsequent to, or within a reasonable time after the occurrence of the incident, i.e. fractures, open wounds, bleeding, abrasions, contusions, swelling, discoloration, etc., but also the secondary effects of the objective manifestations of the force applied and resultant injuries, if any, such as, in the instant case, psychological trauma, physical degenerative changes which appeared long after the event in controversy, is misguided. 306 The implication of the majority opinion that Dr. Markesbery's testimony was curtailed during the causal/liability phase of the trial is contradicted by the record. The trial judge permitted him to testify to all aspects of his relevant, knowledgeable involvement with Martin after the incident. The trial judge only excluded Markesbery's inadmissible testimony concerning plaintiff's physical condition before his confrontation with the police officers, his (Markesbery's) incorrect diagnosis of a fractured right clavicle (conceded by plaintiff during trial), and his equally inadmissible opinion evaluating surgery performed by Dr. Sommerkamp a year or more after the incident involving the defendant police officers and his inadmissible attenuated opinion concerning the causal relationship between the surgery and the force applied by the officers while arresting a resisting plaintiff. 307 Dr. Sommerkamp's testimony concerning his surgery and his already discussed equivocal opinion concerning a causal relationship between the force applied by the officers in arresting the plaintiff more than a year earlier and the necessity for his surgery was properly excluded by the trial judge as irrelevant to the issue of causation and more appropriate to the issue of damage, if any, suffered by Martin. KMC Co. v. Irving Trust Co., 757 F.2d 752 (6th Cir.1985). 308 In reviewing assertions of error pertaining to the admission of expert evidence, we start with the principle that the trial judge has broad discretion in the matter of the admission or exclusion of expert evidence, and his action is to be sustained unless manifestly erroneous. 309 Id. at 763 (emphases added). 310 The testimony of two psychologists (without objection by plaintiff), one of whom was Martin's son-in-law, concerning their professional treatment of Martin, which commenced more than a year after the incident giving rise to this litigation, was totally irrelevant to the issue of causation and properly excluded by the trial judge and is not worthy of further comment. 311 The majority's ill-conceived resolution of the trial judge's rulings, excluding limited medical evidence, again ignores existing Sixth Circuit precedent and invades the virtually impregnable discretionary authority of a trial judge. 312 This circuit, and every other circuit, has recognized that: 313 The trial judge has, and must have, broad discretion in the conduct of a trial. Rulings on the relevancy and materiality of evidence may not be disturbed on appeal in the absence of a showing of CLEAR ABUSE OF DISCRETION. We find no such abuse here. The plaintiff was permitted to introduce some evidence on each of her claims. 314 Geisler v. Folsom, 735 F.2d 991, 997 (6th Cir.1984) (citation omitted & emphasis added). 315 See also In re Air Crash Disaster, 86 F.3d 498 (6th Cir.1996): 316 We note at the outset that evidentiary rulings are left to the discretion of the trial judge. Especially in a case of this length and magnitude, the trial judge understands each item of evidence and its place in the web of other evidence in a way that no appellate court can. Realizing this, we look only for abuses of discretion. If THERE HAS BEEN AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION, we STILL WILL NOT REVERSE A RULING or order a new trial ABSENT ACTUAL PREJUDICE. There is no prejudice from the wrongful exclusion of evidence if other substantially equivalent evidence of the same facts [was] admitted into evidence [as in the instant case]. Nor is there prejudice if the absence of the evidence had no effect on the final result of the trial. 317       318 [A] court is free to exclude any expert testimony, including the testimony of an announced expert, IF THE TESTIMONY IS CUMULATIVE OR REDUNDANT UNDER FED.R.EVID. 403. ... Northwest put twenty-four expert witnesses on the stand. The testimony of these experts, taken as a whole, covers every part of the testimony of Kennedy, Rimson, and Maser. As the court said in Kendra [Oil & Gas, Inc. v. Homco, Ltd., 879 F.2d 240, 243 (7th Cir.1989) ]: nothing suggests that [the expert] would have added to these interpretations a new angle or argument, as opposed to the refrain 'me too'. For these reasons, the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Northwest's motion to re-introduce the stricken opinions. 319 Id. at 526-27 (citations omitted & emphases added) (first & fifth alterations in original). 320 During the course of the trial, the plaintiff presented innumerable witnesses in addition to the adversary parties themselves, who testified to subjective and objective indicia of the force that was applied by the officers in arresting a resisting plaintiff. The testimony of these witnesses was supplemented by extensive hospital emergency room records, including plaintiff's prolific subjective complaints during his emergency room examination on February 5, 1991, and Dr. Baker's examination on February 7, 1991. Through objective visual indications of the force to which plaintiff was subjected to during the course of his arrest, together with the results of a physical examination and its resultant clinical findings and X-rays, plaintiff also introduced Dr. Baker's conclusions regarding plaintiff's physical examination, and Dr. Markesbery's medical evaluation of plaintiff's subjective complaints and the objective medical evidence reflecting upon the issue of force exerted by the officers during the arrest. The witnesses and medical records were examined and cross-examined ad nauseum before the jury. This cumulative evidence more than exhausted the issue bearing upon the degree of force attributed to plaintiff's arrest. The complained of excluded medical evidence, if relevant at all, was redundant and would have added nothing new for the jury's consideration of excessive force. Consequently, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying its introduction. In Hines v. Joy Mfg. Co., 850 F.2d 1146 (6th Cir.1988), the court stated: 321 Appellant must show substantial prejudice before we will grant a new trial based on an alleged Rule 26(e) error. In the instant case, the district court struck only those portions of Mr. Lebo's testimony that did not conform to his deposition testimony, i.e., that there was no lockout device to deactivate the continuous miner while still allowing the bridge units to be operated for clean out and that there was no pull-cord device to grab in an emergency. Appellant argues that since the substance of the bulk of the excluded testimony was furnished by other witnesses, admission of this testimony would not have prejudiced Long-Airdox unfairly. This argument, however, convinces the court that because the substance of the excluded testimony was furnished by other witnesses for appellant, its exclusion was not prejudicial to appellant. For this reason, we reject appellant's argument. 322 Id. at 1153 (citation omitted & emphases added). 323 Evidentiary rulings of a trial court are reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 124-25, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 2911-12, 41 L.Ed.2d 590 (1974). This circuit has determined that: 324 An abuse of discretion exists when the reviewing court is firmly convinced that a mistake has been made.  'A district court abuses its discretion when it relies on clearly erroneous findings of fact, or when it improperly applies the law or uses an erroneous legal standard.'  325 Romstadt v. Allstate Ins. Co., 59 F.3d 608, 615 (6th Cir.1995) (citations omitted); see In re Bendectin Litigation, 857 F.2d 290, 307 (6th Cir.1988) cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1006, 109 S.Ct. 788, 102 L.Ed.2d 779 (1989). 326 The Supreme Court explains the clearly erroneous standard of review as alluded to in Romstadt, in the following commentary: 327 Although the meaning of the phrase clearly erroneous is not immediately apparent, certain general principles governing the exercise of the appellate court's power to overturn findings of a district court may be derived from our cases. The foremost of these principles ... is that [a] finding is 'clearly erroneous' when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. THIS STANDARD PLAINLY DOES NOT ENTITLE A REVIEWING COURT TO REVERSE THE FINDING OF THE TRIER OF FACT SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS CONVINCED THAT IT WOULD HAVE DECIDED THE CASE DIFFERENTLY. THE REVIEWING COURT OVERSTEPS THE BOUNDS OF ITS DUTY UNDER RULE 52(A) IF IT UNDERTAKES TO DUPLICATE THE ROLE OF THE LOWER COURT. In applying the clearly erroneous standard to the findings of a district court sitting without a jury, appellate courts must constantly have in mind that their function is not to decide factual issues de novo. If the district court's account of the evidence is plausible in light of the record viewed in its entirety, the court of appeals may not reverse it even though convinced that had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently. Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous. 328 Anderson v. Bessemer City, N.C., 470 U.S. 564, 573-74, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985) (citations omitted & emphases added). 329 The factual and legal pedagogy of the instant case demonstrates the panel majority's disdain for long-standing precedential decisions of the Supreme Court and of this circuit addressing basic legal concepts. A comprehensive review of this trial record factually and legally supports the trial judge's considered evidentiary rulings which are totally devoid of discretionary abuses. 330 Moreover, pursuant to Sixth Circuit existing precedent, which again was ignored by the panel majority, the admission of relevant, potentially prejudicial evidence is also placed within the sound discretion of the trial court. 331 Ignoring the guidance of In re Beverly Hills Fire Litigation, 695 F.2d 207 (6th Cir.1982), the majority opinion erroneously posits that the trial court's severance of the issue of causation liability from the damage phase of the trial, if not itself error, nonetheless resulted in the improper exclusion of medical evidence relevant to the issue of causation/liability. In response to an identical charge of error, the reviewing court in Beverly Hills decided that: 332 Evidence is not admissible in all cases where it is relevant. Fed.R.Evid. 403 provides: 333 Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. 334 Under this rule, admission of such evidence is placed within the sound discretion of the trial court. 335 Id. at 218. 336 This legal precedent is not foreign to this panel majority, as evidenced in Cox v. Treadway, 75 F.3d 230 (6th Cir.1996), decided about one year ago, wherein the author of Treadway, who is a member of the instant panel, wrote: 337 Appellate courts review evidentiary rulings on the relevance and materiality of evidence for abuse of discretion. THE DISTRICT COURT'S EXCLUSION OF THIS EVIDENCE WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION. The evidence was plainly relevant to the officers' ability to perceive and to the officers' tendency to overreact to the events of the evening. NONETHELESS, THE DISTRICT COURT'S ERROR ON THIS ISSUE WAS NOT REVERSIBLE ERROR BECAUSE THE EXCLUDED TESTIMONY WAS UNLIKELY TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE OUTCOME OF THE TRIAL. 338 Id. at 241 (citation omitted & emphases added). 339 See also Leonard v. Uniroyal Inc., 765 F.2d 560 (6th Cir.1985): 340 Any prejudice that Uniroyal may have suffered was insufficient to warrant overturning the jury's verdict. With respect to the erroneous exclusion of evidence in a jury trial, it has often been held that the exclusion is not prejudicial IF OTHER SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT EVIDENCE OF THE SAME FACTS HAS OTHERWISE BEEN ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE  [as in the instant action]. No error in the admission or exclusion of evidence is ground for reversal unless refusal to take such action appears to the Court to be inconsistent with substantial justice. 341 Id. at 567 (footnote & citations omitted) (emphasis added). 342 The majority has identified no prejudice that resulted from the trial judge's evidentiary rulings in this proceeding. 343 Although the parties have waived assigning error to the trial judge's order bifurcating the issue of liability from damages, the majority has nevertheless seen fit to again sua sponte invade another sanctum of a trial court's discretionary authority and erroneously fault the trial judge's decision to limit the first phase of the trial to the issue of causation/liability of the defendant officers. Ostensibly, the majority's objection to the trial court's order of bifurcation is anchored in its equally erroneous conclusion that the trial court abused its discretion, as hereinbefore discussed, by excluding certain medical testimony which limited plaintiff from more fully demonstrating the degree of force applied by the defendant police officers while placing him into custody. 344 Again, bifurcation is a basic legal concept. Without delving into its historical evolution, suffice to recall this circuit's pronouncement: 345 It is well settled that the ordering of separate trials is within the sound discretion of the trial judge. Plaintiffs argue, however, that no case law supports severance of the issue of causation; rather, only severance of liability and damages has been allowed. This view-point is inconsistent with the language of Fed.R.Civ.P. 42(b), which provides in part: 346 Separate Trials. The court, in furtherance of convenience or to avoid prejudice, or when separate trials will be conducive to expedition and economy, may order a separate trial ... of any separate issue.... 347 Beverly Hills, 695 F.2d at 216 (citations omitted) (alterations and emphasis in original). 348 Bifurcation of this trial on the issues of cause/liability and damages did not operate as reversible error nor was it prejudicial to appellant in presenting his case as to the actions of the officers. Appellant's argument that the extent of the injuries is probative of the force applied by the officers has been considered and rejected by other courts. In Kisteneff v. Tiernan, 514 F.2d 896 (1st Cir.1975), an assault and battery case, the plaintiff argued, as in the instant case, that the trial court had committed reversible error in bifurcating the issues of damages and liability, because the medical evidence was probative as to the severity of the blow which he had received. The First Circuit Court of Appeals, however, noted that the medical evidence was only minimally relevant to the issue as to the severity of the blow received, and that bifurcation of these two issues (liability and damages) did not constitute reversible error. Id. at 897. The SEVERITY OF THE BLOW COULD BE ESTABLISHED, as in the instant case, by OTHER EVIDENTIARY AVENUES, SUCH AS THE TESTIMONIES OF THE PLAINTIFF, AND OTHER WITNESSES. Id. 349 In Davis v. Freels, 583 F.2d 337 (7th Cir.1978), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rule that the trial court's decision to bifurcate an excessive use of force case based upon the issues of damages and liability constituted reversible error. Id. at 343. In Davis, as in the case at bar, the plaintiff argued that the trial court abused its discretion in bifurcating the issues of liability and damages in an excessive use of force, because these issues allegedly overlap. Id. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, however, rejected that argument, and instead held that the decision to separate the issues of liability and damages in a civil case is reserved to the discretion of the trial court. Id. 350 Because the trial judge committed no discretionary abuses in ruling upon the admissibility of limited medical evidence proffered by the plaintiff Martin during the causal/liability phase of the trial before him because his bifurcation of the issues of cause/liability and damages was within his discretion and in accordance with existing legal precedent, and because the panel majority has failed to identify any prejudice to the plaintiff as a result of that order, I would AFFIRM the trial court's rulings in their entirety. 351 If this appellate review considers the panel majority's disposition of Officer Paul's motion seeking qualified immunity within the context of existing Sixth Circuit and national judicial precedent, the disposition is egregiously erroneous. 352 Initially, the standard against which entitlement to qualified immunity is judged was enunciated in Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982), wherein the Supreme Court stated that: 353 [G]overnment officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. 354 Id. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738. 355 Five years later, in Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987), the Court directed: 356 The contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. This is not to say that an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful, ... but it is to say that in the light of pre-existing law the unlawfulness must be apparent. 357 Id. at 640, 107 S.Ct. at 3039. 358 Although Anderson does not require that the specific action in controversy (tight handcuffing) has been held unlawful, the burden rests upon the plaintiff to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the questionable conduct was apparent in light of pre-existing law. If the plaintiff fails to carry the assigned burden of proving that the defendant violated a clearly established constitutional right, the court must prevent the plaintiff from subjecting the defendant to trial: 359 [qualified immunity is an] entitlement not to stand trial or face the burdens of litigation.... The entitlement is an immunity from suit rather than a mere defense to liability; and like an absolute immunity, it is effectively lost if a case is erroneously permitted to go to trial. 360 Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2815, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985) (emphasis added). 361 Caldwell v. Moore, 968 F.2d 595 (6th Cir.1992), directs district courts as well as post Caldwell panels of this circuit that: 362 To determine whether a right is clearly established, a court may rely on decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the courts of its own circuit, the highest state court in which it sits, and under very limited circumstances, the courts from other federal circuits. 363 Id. at 599; see Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987); Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986). 364 In addressing the issue of whether a certain action violates clearly established law, this circuit adopted the following precedential standard in Ohio Civil Serv. Employees Ass'n v. Seiter, 858 F.2d 1171 (6th Cir.1988): 365 In the ordinary instance, to find a clearly established constitutional right, a district court must find binding precedent by the Supreme Court, its Court of Appeals, or itself. In an extraordinary case, it may be possible for the decisions of other courts to clearly establish a principle of law. For the decisions of other courts to provide such clearly established law these decisions must both point unmistakably to the unconstitutionality of the conduct complained of and be SO CLEARLY FORESHADOWED BY APPLICABLE DIRECT AUTHORITY AS TO LEAVE NO DOUBT IN THE MIND OF A REASONABLE OFFICER THAT HIS CONDUCT, IF CHALLENGED ON CONSTITUTIONAL GROUNDS, WOULD BE FOUND WANTING. 366 Id. at 1177 (emphasis added). 367 Prior to granting Officer Paul's Motion for Qualified Immunity with respect to the handcuffs, the trial court, unlike the panel majority, 5 conscientiously and thoroughly first determined that there were no decisions issued by either the Supreme Court, nor this circuit court of appeals, which addressed the use of tight handcuffs as a basis for liability under 41 U.S.C. § 1983. The trial court then conducted a scrutinizing evaluation of other circuit court decisions and the decisions of the district courts throughout the circuits, and concluded that the law in this area was far from being clearly established. 368 THE COURT: Okay. The authorities I found--First of all, the test for qualified immunity is[,] is the right clearly established, and the specific right and specific thing the officer did, was it clear to the officer--should have been, using an objective standard[,] clear to the officer there in the field, that in the Sixth Circuit he would be violating the constitutional rights by applying the handcuffs too tight; and I find, on the basis of my research, the law in the Sixth Circuit is not clear and the law in the other circuits is divided. 369 (Tr. at 581-82.) 370 The only reported case which the majority opinion relies upon for justifying its denial of qualified immunity to Officer Paul is Walton v. City of Southfield, 995 F.2d 1331 (6th Cir.1993), a decision in which I participated. Regrettably, the majority totally misconceived the law of that case. Apart from being decided two years and four months after February 5, 1991, the date on which Officer Paul purportedly applied the handcuffs to plaintiffs wrists, the decision in Walton directed that if genuine ISSUES OF MATERIAL FACT EXISTED as to whether the defendants actually did commit acts that would violate a clearly established right, then summary judgment on qualified immunity was improper. 371 The reviewing court in Walton affirmed the trial court's denial of summary judgment to the officer based on qualified immunity because: 372 In this case, the facts are disputed as to WHETHER BIRBERICK KNEW THAT WALTON HAD AN INJURED SHOULDER. Walton's version of the facts is that she begged not to be handcuffed because of her injured shoulder. In contrast, Birberick states that Walton never told him why she did not want to be handcuffed, and only told him her shoulder was hurting when they were travelling to the station. Although the right to be free from excessive use of force is clearly established, there is a genuine issue of material fact here as to whether the officer in fact used excessive force. Therefore, we affirm the district court's denial of qualified immunity on this issue. 373 Id. at 1342 (emphasis added). 374 In Walton, the appellate review never considered if handcuffing constituted the use of excessive force in violation of a constitutional prohibition. It stopped short of addressing that issue. It reasoned that disposition of that substantive question depended upon a preliminary factual resolution of the arresting officer's knowledge of the poor physical condition of the plaintiff's shoulder. The instant case presented no preliminary factual scenario that required resolution. Consequently, Walton is inapplicable. 375 It should also be noted, that although Officer Paul, in his individual capacity, was granted qualified immunity by the trial judge with respect to the § 1983 claims on his alleged failure to loosen the handcuffs, the jury was, nevertheless, presented an interrogatory which specifically addressed that issue. Because Martin had brought a claim against Officer Paul's employer, City of Walton, under the theory of respondeat superior on the state law tort of assault and battery, the trial court requested the jury to address the reasonableness of Officer Paul's actions allowing the handcuffs to remain on Martin until he was secured in the jail in a special interrogatory: 376 2A. Has the plaintiff proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the handcuffs were excessively tight after plaintiff was in the cruiser and that defendant Roger Paul unreasonably refused to respond to a reasonable request to loosen them? Yes ___ 377 No XX/s/ Michael Connley Foreperson 378 Assuming arguendo that the language of Walton is interpreted as the majority opinion suggests, which interpretation is erroneous, its pronouncements had no legal effect or precedential significance which clearly established the law, particularly in this circuit, that the placing of tight handcuffs constitutes constitutionally prohibited excessive force. Nor did the decision receive public notoriety that would have placed Officer Paul on notice, or should have placed him on notice of the constitutional impingement, for the obvious reason that Walton was not decided or published until June 10, 1993, some two years and four months after Officer Paul handcuffed Martin on February 5 of 1991. 379 In the instant case, the majority opinion reverses the trial court's grant of qualified immunity to Officer Paul with the following convoluted obfuscation: 380 This circuit, however, has chosen to view an exceedingly forceful handcuffing claim under the general excessive force rubric. In Walton v. City of Southfield, 995 F.2d 1331, 1342 (6th Cir.1993), we denied qualified immunity to an officer who handcuffed a woman with a shoulder injury. Although Walton was decided in 1993, the incident occurred in 1988, ... we confidently denied qualified immunity [in 1993] because the case presented a genuine issue of fact regarding whether excessive force was used. Because clearly established law in 1991, the time of the incident in this case, prohibited an officer's use of excessive force, and because a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Officer Paul used excessive force under the circumstances, the district court erred by granting Paul qualified immunity on the handcuffing issue. 381 This explanation of retroactivity is incomprehensible and defies meaning. If Walton was decided in 1993, any precedential value that may have attached to its disposition was unknown to the world, including Officer Paul in 1991, and could not have impacted his knowledge on February 5, 1991, the date on which he arrested plaintiff Martin. 382 Initially, the panel majority exercises judicial license when it incorrectly concludes that Walton denied qualified immunity to an officer who handcuffed a woman with a shoulder injury. Although the officer in that case was denied qualified immunity on summary judgment, he was not denied qualified immunity because the court had concluded that he placed the handcuffs on too tightly and impinged a constitutional prohibition. As already discussed, that issue was not reached or decided in the reviewing court's disposition. Consequently, the majority opinion's surmise is incorrect and Walton lends no support to the majority's opinion that, in this circuit, the law was clearly established that the placing of handcuffs too tightly constituted a constitutional violation on February 5, 1991. 383 Secondly, there were no outstanding issues of disputed material fact as to whether Officer Paul used excessive force in handcuffing the plaintiff, especially in the absence of apparent injury to the plaintiff's wrists. That issue, along with all issues concerning the use of excessive force during the detention of plaintiff and thereafter, was resolved by the jury in favor of Officer Paul as evidenced by its answer to the special interrogatories submitted by the court at the conclusion of the evidentiary trial. 384 Lastly, the plaintiff failed to carry his heavy burden and prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Officer Paul was not entitled to the protection of qualified immunity. 385 Because of the superficial transitory injuries to Martin's wrists from the handcuffs, coupled with the absence of clearly established law within this circuit and the existing conflict of opinion between other circuits that have addressed the issue of tight handcuffing as an excessive force prohibition constitutional impingement, I would AFFIRM the trial court's grant of qualified immunity to Officer Paul and, accordingly, enter my respectful DISSENT to the panel disposition of the issue. 386 For the reasons stated herein, I would also respectfully DISSENT from the majority's resolution of all other issues presented by this appeal and AFFIRM the jury's verdict and all discretionary evidentiary and other rulings of the trial court. 387