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Last week the Second Circuit, in Payne v. Jones, held that a jury’s $300,000 punitive damages award to a police beating victim was excessive. It thus remanded for a new trial on punitive damages, unless plaintiff agreed to remit $200,000 and accept a punitive damages award totaling $100,000. After plaintiff was brought to the hospital,…
Read More A $200,000 Kick To The Groin
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According to recent reports, nude body-paint model Zoe West has settled her false arrest claims against New York City for $15,000. West was arrested (see picture) in August 2011 as artist Andy Golub applied paint to her naked body in Times Square. Her complaint (below) alleged that her arrest was unlawful because public nudity is…
Read More Nude Model Zoe West Settles False Arrest Claims Against NYC
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While the facts and details surrounding Friday’s tragic Empire State Building shooting have yet to be fully developed, the reports thus far indicate that several (as many as nine) bystanders were wounded by police bullets. This raises the question of what, if any, liability will be imposed on the City of New York and/or the…
Read More Liability Where Bystanders Shot By Police?
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Below are three separate complaints filed yesterday by, respectively, plaintiffs Julie Lawler, Kelly Hanlin, and Damien Crisp against the City of New York and several named and “John Doe” NYPD employees, for damages and injunctive relief under, inter alia, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The crux of plaintiffs’ claims is that they were injured as a…
Read More OWS Pepper Spray Lawsuits
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Last week, federal Judge George B. Daniels upheld (in response to a Fourth Amendment challenge) NYPD “Interim Order 52”, which requires that a breathalyzer test be administered to any NYPD officer involved in a shooting that results in injury or death to a person in New York City. The decision in Palladino et al. v. City…
Read More Court Upholds Requirement That NYPD Officers Undergo Breathalyzer Tests Following Shooting Incidents