Lam v. City of Los Banos
Filing
197
MEMORANDUM and ORDER signed by District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr on 11/19/18 DENYING 185 Motion for Judgment. (Coll, A)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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TAN LAM,
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No. 2:15-cv-00531-MCE-KJN
Plaintiff,
v.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
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CITY OF LOS BANOS, et al.,
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Defendants.
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Through this action Plaintiff Tan Lam (“Plaintiff”), as a successor-in-interest,
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sought redress from the City of Los Banos and Officer Jairo Acosta (hereafter “Officer
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Acosta” or “Defendant”) for the shooting death of his son, Sonny Lam (“Decedent”). This
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Court granted in part and denied in part Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and
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the case proceeded to trial on Plaintiff’s remaining claims against Defendant. At the
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close of evidence, Defendant moved for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Federal
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Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a), which Motion the Court denied. The jury thereafter
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returned a verdict in Plaintiff’s favor and awarded him $2.75 million. Presently before the
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Court is Defendant’s Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law (“JMOL”)
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Pursuant to Rule 50(b) or, Alternatively, Motion for a New Trial. ECF No. 185. For the
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reasons set forth below, Defendant’s Motion is DENIED.
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ANALYSIS
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A JMOL is proper when “the evidence permits only one reasonable conclusion
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and the conclusion is contrary to that reached by the jury.” Lakeside-Scott v. Multnomah
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County, 556 F.3d 797, 802 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation
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omitted); White v. Ford Motor Co., 312 F.3d 998, 1010 (9th Cir. 2002). To justify relief
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through a JMOL, there must be a “complete absence of probative facts to support the
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conclusion reached so that no reasonable juror could have found for the nonmoving
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party.” Eich v. Board of Regents for Central Missouri State Univ., 350 F.3d 752, 761
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(8th Cir. 2003) (quotation marks and citations omitted). While the Court should review
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the evidence comprising the record, it should “not make credibility determinations or
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weigh the evidence” and further should construe all evidence in the light most favoring
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the nonmoving party. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Co., 530 U.S. 133, 150-51 (2000);
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see also E.E.O.C. v. Go Daddy Software, 581 F.3d 951, 961 (9th Cir. 2009). In
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assessing a motion for JMOL, then, the jury’s verdict is entitled to substantial deference.
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A.D. v. Calif. Highway Patrol, 712 F.3d 446, 453 (9th Cir. 2013). The jury’s verdict must
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be upheld if there is sufficient evidence to support its findings, even where contrary
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findings are possible. Escriba v. Foster Poultry Farms, Inc., 743 F.3d 1236, 1242 (9th
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Cir. 2014). Because it is a renewal of a pre-verdict Rule 50(a) motion, a post-verdict
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Rule 50(b) motion is limited to the grounds asserted in the Rule 50(a) motion. E.E.O.C.,
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581 F.3d at 961. A party cannot properly raise arguments in its renewed motion for
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JMOL that it did not raise in its Rule 50(a) motion. Id.
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As an alternative to his request for JMOL, Defendant advocates for a new trial on
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grounds that the verdict ultimately reached by the jury was against the weight of the
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evidence. That request is consistent with the language of Rule 50(b), which specifically
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states that a Rule 50(b) motion may include “an alternative or joint request for a new trial
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under Rule 59.”
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A district court has discretion to grant a new trial when the jury’s verdict is
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contrary to the “clear weight of the evidence,” is based on false evidence, or would result
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in a miscarriage of justice. Silver Sage Partners, Ltd. v. City of Desert Hot Springs,
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251 F.3d 814, 819 (9th Cir. 2001); Rattray v. City of Nat’l City, 51 F.3d 793, 800 (9th Cir.
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1994). The standard for assessing a motion for new trial differs from that applicable to a
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motion for JMOL under Rule 50(b) inasmuch as even if the verdict is supported by
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enough evidence to survive a 50(b) challenge, the Court in ruling on a new trial request
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has the obligation to set aside the verdict under Rule 59(a) if the verdict runs afoul of the
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“clear weight” of the evidence that has been presented. See Molski v. M.J. Cable, Inc.,
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481 F.3d 724, 729 (9th Cir. 2007).
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A verdict is against the clear weight of the evidence when, after giving full respect
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to the jury’s findings, the judge “is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake
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has been committed” by the jury. Landes Const. Co., Inc. v. Royal Bank of Canada,
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833 F.2d 1365, 1371-72 (9th Cir. 1987) (citations omitted). In ruling on a motion for new
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trial, “the judge can weigh the evidence and assess the credibility of witnesses, and
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need not view the evidence from the perspective most favorable to the prevailing party.”
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Air-Sea Forwarders, Inc. v. Air Asia Co., Ltd., 880 F.2d 176, 190 (9th Cir. 1989); see also
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United States v. Kellington, 217 F.3d 1084, 1095 (9th Cir. 2000). Defendant can move
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for a partial new trial as long as the issues on which a new trial is sought are distinct
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enough that retrial as to those issues is not unjust to the non-moving party, here Plaintiff.
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Pumphrey v. K.W. Thompson Tool Co., 62 F.3d 1128, 1133-34 (9th Cir. 1995).
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Defendant’s Motion for JMOL fails because there was sufficient evidence from
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which the jury could find in Plaintiff’s favor. Given the fact that resolution of this case
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largely hinged on credibility determinations that the jury resolved against Defendant and
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inferences the jury was required to make from the evidence, and because this Court
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cannot discount those determinations, it cannot conclude that the evidence permits only
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a conclusion contrary. This case is not appropriate for JMOL, and Defendant’s request
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to that effect is DENIED.
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Nor can this Court, having considered the record in its entirety, find that the jury’s
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verdict herein was contrary to the clear weight of the evidence. As stated above, the
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import of the evidence largely hinged on the respective believability of the parties, and it
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was up to the jury to find the relevant facts. This Court has not been left with a “firm and
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definite conviction” that the jury got it wrong, and Defendant’s request for a new trial is
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also DENIED.
Finally, Defendant’s request that the Court find that he is entitled to qualified
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immunity also cannot carry the day.1 The jury found the following facts: (1) Sonny Lam
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stabbed Officer Acosta with a pair of scissors; (2) Sonny Lam did not grab Officer
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Acosta’s firearm prior to Officer Acosta firing the first gunshot; (3) Officer Acosta
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retreated from Sonny Lam after firing the first gunshot; and (4) Sonny Lam did not
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approach Officer Acosta with scissors before Officer Acosta fired his gun the second
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time. Given those findings, even if the Court could determine that Officer Acosta was
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entitled to qualified immunity regarding the first gunshot, the jury found with respect to
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the second shot that Officer Acosta was retreating and was no longer being approached
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with scissors. There is simply no way given the factual determinations reached by the
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jury that the Court can determine Officer Acosta is entitled to immunity with regard to the
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second gunshot. Accordingly, the jury’s verdict will stand.
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1 The Court agrees with Plaintiff that Defendant effectively failed to raise this issue in his preverdict motion, but it is not convinced that failure results in a waiver. If anything, Defendant waived the
issue by, as explained below, failing to submit adequate factual questions to the jury for resolution.
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CONCLUSION
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For the foregoing reasons, Defendant’s Renewed Motion for Judgment as a
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Matter of Law Pursuant to Rule 50(b) or, Alternatively, Motion for a New Trial (ECF
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No. 185) is DENIED.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: November 19, 2018
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